“I have been working with ESAero for the past three years, and am continually impressed with their ability to quickly turn around a high quality product. They have skills ranging from “clean sheet” design, complete air vehicle analysis, through component and scale model development. They have excellent communication skills, and routinely integrate the customer in the design and fabrication process. They also have access to a network of highly skilled aerospace engineers and educators to compliment their indigenous capability.”

Darold B. Cummings, President

Center for Innovation

General Atomics	(June 2009 - Present)
Electric Air Vehicles Design and Analysis Engineering Support to General Atomics for the design of multiple Hybrid Electric Air Vehicle configurations.

NASA SBIR Award #NNX09CC86P	(January 2009 - July 2009)
Application of an ACEPS to Aerodynamically Efficient Subsonic Transport Aircraft During this SBIR study, ESAero is going to study the design of regional airliners for Entry Into Service (EIS) in 2030. The propulsion technology that will be studied and integrated into these airframes will be an Advanced Cryogenic Electric Propulsion System, or ACEPS. The ESAero team will design and integrate this system into a 150 passenger and 250 passenger regional transport aircraft.

Electricore, Inc.	(January 2009 - Present)
Hybrid Systems Overview Project – Phase I ESAero identified opportunities and technology to reduce fuel consumption in Aerospace Applications using Electric-Hybrid System. This three month study assessed the SOTA, evaluated and defined a system model for an aircraft. Hybrid Helicopter Trade Study Project – Phase II ESAero is creating databases for and modeling potential hybrid system engines and electric motors, along with identifying helicopter analysis software.

Aerovironment, Inc. Global Observer Support	(October 2008 - Present)
Engineering Support on Global Observer Payload Engineering and Installation Support on Global Observer, a 65,000 foot altitude liquid hydrogen powered persistent unmanned aircraft system. Payload Performance Prediction and Analysis Working with various Payload vendors to estimate performance of their payloads on the Global Observer.

NASA Ames Earth Sciences Division SIERRA UAV Support	(September 2008 - Present)
SIERRA Long-Range Configuration Study In anticipation of long-range operations, ESAero is conducting a configuration study to look at the structural and aerodynamic modifications possible to increase the volume of fuel in the aircraft for long-range missions. DoeTECH Performance Code to Analyze Different Configurations A performance code is being developed exclusively for the SIERRA UAV. The DoeTECH code, once matched to existing flight test data, will be used to analyze the different configurations being considered for long-range missions. Once a configuration is chosen and the modifications to the airframe are made, it will be used to analyze potential long-range missions in the future.

NASA Ames Research Center	(July 2008 - October 2008)
Static Display Models Solid modeling and construction of 36 models. These models included a Hybrid Wing Extreme Short Takeoff and Landing Aircraft (HWESTOL), Electric Cruiser Efficient Short Takeoff and Landing Aircraft (ECESTOL), and two configurations from the NASA/Cal Poly NRA. Each configuration will have two large (four feet), four small (twelve inch) models, and 6 miniature (4 inch) models, each with identical paint schemes.

NASA / Cal Poly San Luis Obispo N+2 NRA	(January 2008 - October 2008)
Design and Performance Code for Powered-Lift CESTOL Airliners With Associate DHC Engineering, the design and performance of powered-lift Cruise Efficient Short Takeoff and Landing (CESTOL) aircraft is being accomplished. A design and performance code for these specific types of aircraft is being created to be available as a public code with delivery to NASA. Powered-Lift CESTOL Aircraft Design Methodology With Associate DHC Engineering, a methodology is being written outlying the man-in-the-loop philosophy and design process surrounding powered-lift CESTOL aircraft, and how they differ from conventional “wing and tube” aircraft designs. Solid Models of Four Powered-Lift CESTOL Configurations In support of Cal Poly and Associate DHC Engineering, all four powered-lift configurations for the NRA are being modeled in SolidWorks.

Frontline Aerospace, Inc.	(August 2007 - September 2008)
VSTAR^TM - VTOL Swift Tactical Aerial Resource Ground up vehicle design utilizing in-house DOETECH^TM aerodynamic design software. Combined VTOL and conventional flight regimes create a unique and difficult set of parameters to analyze.

Lunar Transportation Systems	(September 2007 – June 2008)
Tank Transfer System Engineering and Analysis Design and analysis on LTS’ innovative tank transportation system to efficiently transport rocket fuels to orbit and beyond to the moon.

Syndex Aerospace	(May 2007 – January 2008)
AEM 346 Spin Chute System Modeling and Analysis Solid modeling and structural analysis on preliminary spin-chute design for the flight testing of the Aeromacchi 346 trainer. The system is designed to fit within the tail cone mold lines of the aircraft so no additional flight testing will be required when the spin chute is removed.

Southwest Aero Group (SWAG)	(July 2004 - Present)
Data Reduction of Evergreen International Supertanker Flight Data Analysis and reduction of digitally recorded flight data from various test flights with varying flight scenarios. This was done in support of the Evergreen Supertanker Proof-Of-Concept (POC) program.
747 Fuselage Stiffness and Mass Properties Reverse engineering of the entire 747-200F fuselage to calculate stiffness and obtain the mass properties data for each fuselage station on the aircraft. This was done in support of the Evergreen Supertanker program.
Gulfstream II/III Engine Hushkit Certification Process Data reduction and performance simulation/matching using Fortran software. All tasks performed are in the support of the FAA certification process for an engine hushkit used on both the Gulfstream II and Gulfstream III.
747 Wing Stiffness and Mass Properties Reverse engineering of two wing stations to calculate stiffness and obtain mass properties data at each of these stations where strain gages are located. This was done in support of the Evergreen Supertanker flight test program.
747 Wing Fuel 1-G Dead Weight Shear Properties Reverse engineering and solid model creation of the 747-200F Wing Fuel Tanks to identify the location of fuel tank CG locations with varying amounts of fuel. This was done in support of the Evergreen Supertanker flight test program.
Hawaiian Airlines 767-300 Interior Reconfiguration Support Engineering and Testing for the interior reconfiguration of four ex-Delta 767-300s with a Heath-Techna NuLook Interior. ESAero is acting as liason engineers during the construction and installation of various interior components, including the galleys and class dividers.

Freefallers Global Entertainment Ltd.	(October 2005 - January 2007)
Freefallers Mobile Freefall Simulator Initial research and design is being done on the next generation of mobile simulators. This next generation of mobile simulator is being developed with increased efficiency in order to meet strict power requirements.

AeroCopter, Inc.	(March 2005 - November 2006)
Flight Test Demonstrator (Top) Research and development of a twelve foot diameter scaled flight test demonstrator was conducted. Construction and flight testing of the Humming configuration occurred during this work, with the results leading to a reconfiguration of the conceptual design.
Sarus and Kestrel Conceptual Design Reconfigurations Information was gained from the Flight Test Demonstrator to develop new configurations for the personal aerial vehicle and unmanned aerial vehicle markets. Software-based performance models were developed to estimate takeoff and transit performance. The Sarus (white) is a 2,970 pound Vertical Takeoff and Landing Personal Aerial Vehicle which can carry two passengers a distance of 200 nautical miles at a speed of 201 knots. The Kestrel (green) is a 2,876 pound Vertical Takeoff and Landing Front Line Delivery System that can carry 250 pounds 300 nautical miles at a speed of 190 knots.

NASA Headquarters	(Nov. 2005 - March 2006)
Static Display Models Solid modeling and construction of 36 models was completed. These models included a Blended Wing Body (BWB), Personal Aerial Vehicle (PAV), Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), Rotocraft (RC), Supersonic Aircraft (SSA), and Extremely Short Takeoff and Landing (ESTOL). Each configuration had two large (five feet) and four small (twelve inches) models, each with identical paint schemes.

Stellar Solutions Quakfinder (Subcontractor)	(January - November 2004)
Small Satellite Ride Sharing An assessment was performed of the current small satellite market and potential rideshare and launch opportunities were identified.

Scard Technologies, Inc.	(Oct. 2003 - Aug. 2004)
Smart Card Reader Prototype Development An innovative smart card reader was developed to demonstrate Scard's hardware security technology. Custom interface electronics and software was created to demonstrate Scard’s patented next-generation payment system.

Empirical Systems Aerospace (Internal)	(Oct. 2003 - Aug. 2004)
High-Powered Test-Bed Rocket A nine-foot high powered rocket was constructed to test a variety of electronics systems or altitude dependent systems. In November 2004, the rocket was used to test ESAero’s data acquisition system and remote event handler. The data acquisition system currently incorporates accelerometers and rate gyroscopes to determine real-time flight loads and dynamics of the rocket during flight. The rocket was tested successfully and is available in support of any electronics project.

Atkisek Corporation	(August 2003 - Jan. 2005)
Next-Generation Hydraulics Theoretical development and patent assistance, including preliminary drawings and proofs, was done on the next generation of hydraulic cylinders.
Conveyer System Theoretical development and structure analysis was performed on a lightweight conveyer system being developed to assist the U.S. Forest Service in their clear cutting efforts under the Healthy Forest Initiative.

Boeing PhantomWorks (Southern California)	(Sept. - Dec. 2003)
Personal Aerial Vehicle Exploration Investigation into of the feasibility for "flying cars" was conducted along with their ability to interact with the current transportation infrastructure. Different vehicle configurations were completed meeting specific requirements.

Boeing PhantomWorks (St. Louis)	(June 2003 - Jan. 2004)
U.A.V. Research - Payload Integration Simulation A study of unmanned aerial vehicles and the impact of various integrated payloads on performance was performed. An in-house software-based mission profile simulator was used to determine drag and fuel burn impacts of each payload.
Morphing Aircraft Configurations The configuration and design of two morphing aircraft for specific roles in the military arena were completed to investigate their feasibility in two specific mission profiles.

StarCraft Boosters, Inc.	(Jan. 2001 - May 2003)
Reusable Launch Vehicles Vehicle construction and sub-scale flight testing was performed on a ten foot single and five foot cluster configuration of the Starbooster. Subsonic flight characteristics were the focal point of testing, with a Crossbow® inertial measurement unit and control surface deflection potentiometers used to capture live test data.