Everyone knows that it is difficult to predict anything. But predicting the future of aviation is even harder. In December 1903 an editorial in The New York Times confidently explained the issues with humans flying:

“Hence, if it requires, say, a thousand years to fit for easy flight a bird which started with rudimentary wings, or ten thousand for one which started with no wings at all and had to sprout them ab initio, it might be assumed that the flying machine which will really fly might be evolved by the combined and continuous efforts of mathematicians and mechanicians in from one million to ten million years – provided, of course, we can meanwhile eliminate such little drawbacks and embarrassments as the existing relation between weight and strength in inorganic materials.”

Nine days later the Wright Brothers took off at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

Despite this – and many other failed forecasts – this issue is very much dedicated to the future. We have identified the four megatrends driving the market – the environment, flight as a service, The Fourth Aviation Revolution, and the age of experiences. We think these will drive much of the change in the next decade.

If you are looking for new aircraft, we have Bombardier’s Global 6500 and Textron Aviation’s Cessna Citation Longitude. We also have another amazing aircraft family – this time the Kilkeary family that runs L.J. Aviation – and a day in the life with Dawit Lemma, the man leading business aviation in Ethiopia.

We hope this issue will help inspire you for at least the next decade.

Time definitely seems to be moving fast – it only seems a few years ago that we were celebrating the Millennium. We are now almost a quarter through the 21st century.

Despite that scary thought, I wish you all a happy, healthy and fun Roaring Twenties!