EP 55 — Piasecki Aircraft’s John Piasecki on Their Answer to Extended-Range Combat Logistics

John Piasecki, President & CEO of Piasecki Aircraft, outlines how his company is developing hydrogen-powered vertical lift aircraft that could deliver turbine helicopter capabilities at half the cost with zero emissions. He explores how the lethality demonstrated in Ukraine and the vast distances of Indo-Pacific operations are driving innovation in autonomous VTOL platforms designed for distributed logistics. As the son of Frank Piasecki, who invented the tandem rotor helicopter (now the Chinook), John continues his family's legacy of vertical lift innovation through research and development focused on compound helicopters, tilt-duct VTOL, hydrogen fuel cells, and adaptive flight controls.

Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
1:15 Piasecki Aircraft's legacy and John's background
5:34 The evolution of defense aircraft innovation
8:23 How small businesses drive innovation for DoD
10:35 Piasecki's R&D business model and technology transition
13:55 Key focus areas: contested environments and Indo-Pacific
16:30 Advanced configurations: compound helicopters and tilt-duct
17:51 Adaptive flight controls and certification challenges
18:53 Hydrogen fuel cell propulsion advantages
21:12 Additive manufacturing for aviation components
23:05 The hydrogen fuel cell development process
24:26 Hydrogen vs. turbine engines: pros and cons
26:52 Hydrogen infrastructure challenges
28:23 The PA890 compound helicopter with hydrogen power
30:17 The Ares tilt-duct VTOL platform
34:15 Size and military applications of Ares
37:27 The future of vertical lift in 10-20 years
40:41 Cyber-enabled rotorcraft and software-enabled systems
43:28 How to follow Piasecki Aircraft's developments