CTURER
Beach by Rick de Yampert
When Drew McEwen pilots his Beechcraft Bonanza from his Vero Beach home to his job in Daytona Beach at the new U. S. headquarters and production site of French airplane manufacturer AURA AERO, the lifelong aviator may get a bit nostalgic.
After all, the plane he takes to work – a v-tailed, hot rod-looking, 1969 Bonanza painted bright red with blue checks running down the fuselage – once belonged to his mother.
“ I grew up in Wichita, Kansas, and my mother and father were aviators,” said McEwen, who earned his glider license at age 14 and his private pilot license at 16.“ My mother flew a Beechcraft Bonanza, and I spent a lot of time in the right seat as a child.”
His first solo flight at age 16, in a Grumman American Cheetah,“ stands out vividly,” McEwen said.“ As I accelerated down the runway alone, the realization that I was completely responsible for the aircraft was both humbling and motivating. My mother, who was also a flight instructor, played a major role in guiding me through those early milestones.”
As AURA AERO’ s Chief Commercial Officer, a job he took in early 2024 after more than 35 years with aviation manufacturers Piper Aircraft and Beechcraft, McEwen will be part of an adventure his late parents never dreamed of: The Toulouse, France-based AURA AERO boldly proclaims it is“ leading the race” to create“ the first hybrid electric commercial aircraft.”
AURA AERO plans to“ accelerate the adoption of cleaner, greener aviation technologies,” leading to the“ decarbonization” of aviation,” McEwen said. Such steps, he added, will revive the moribund regional airline market in the U. S.
In October 2025, AURA AERO, which was founded in 2018, opened an 11,000-square-foot facility at Embry‐Riddle Aeronautical University’ s Research Park in Daytona Beach. That facility will be doing“ completion work” on AURA AERO’ s INTEGRAL R, a piston-engine, two-seater, aerobaticcapable training aircraft.
FEBRUARY / MARCH 2026 | 7 |