Despite the Russia-Ukraine war and volatility in the stock market, business aircraft activity at Textron Aviation has remained strong during the first quarter of 2022, company officials say.
Beyond developing and producing an air vehicle that meets civil aviation authority certification standards, advanced air mobility companies also must certify how the aircraft will be serviced and maintained, and their flight operations also must be certified.
Helicopter and fixed-wing aircraft lessor LCI has placed a firm order for 50 Beta Technologies Alia-250 electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles with an option for another 75.
With modification of the Cessna 172 Skyhawk and 208 Caravan to autonomous operation already under its belt, Reliable Robotics has received an Air Force Research Laboratory contract to demonstrate autonomous capabilities on U.S. Air Force aircraft.
Design changes and component supply issues have pushed back the first flight of the certification prototype for Harbour Air Seaplanes’ conversion of the de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver to electric propulsion.
VoltAero’s Cassio 1 hybrid-electric testbed aircraft is anticipated to surpass 10,000 km of flight en route to the AERO Friedrichshafen general aviation trade show in Germany.
A large white tent in the middle of an English Midland town center parking lot is providing the advanced air mobility industry with a sense of the infrastructure it may need to serve its customers.
Autonomous electric aircraft developer Pyka has closed a $37 million Series A funding round to support production of its Pelican uncrewed crop sprayer and develop a cargo version of the aircraft.
When Aviation Week’s Advanced Air Mobility Report began following the composite performance of AAM’s publicly traded stocks, it was a given that the composite would show the typical results of a startup company–in this case a group of companies.
In a bid to promote the commercialization of drone-based products and services, a plan to build a 165-mi. network of drone “superhighways” linking cities across the UK has been submitted by a consortium led by unified traffic management provider Altitude Angel.
Chinese startup TCab Tech has conducted transition flight tests with a 50%-scale demonstrator of its planned E20 electric vertical takeoff and landing air taxi.
So far, Beta Technologies and Volocopter are showing it is possible to build a billion-dollar business in advanced air mobility without the distraction of going public.
Ferrovial Airports has appointed Bob Montgomery as head of vertiports business development and Brad Miller as vertiports managing director for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
JetBlue Technology Ventures, the airline’s investment arm, has participated in a $13 million funding round by battery developer Electric Power Systems.
Vertical Aerospace expects to certificate its VX4 air taxi concurrently with the UK and Europe, with the European Union Aviation Safety Agency agreeing to validate UK Civil Aviation Authority type certification of the electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing aircraft.
As it ground-tests a 2-megawatt electric motor with the intent of converting a 100-seat regional jet to zero-emission propulsion, Wright Electric has received a U.S. Air Force contract to modify the technology into a lightweight, high-power generator as a battlefield recharger for electrified vehicles.
BAE Systems plans to provide energy-management components, including the battery and cabling, for the megawatt-class hybrid electric propulsion system being developed by GE Aviation under the recently awarded NASA Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstration project.
