U.S. startup Odys Aerospace has secured $12.4 million in seed funding to build a subscale demonstrator of an unconventional hybrid-electric aircraft that combines vertical takeoff and landing capability with high cruise efficiency to provide regional range at low operating cost.
Israel’s Steadicopter says its Black Eagle 50H VTOL UAS is the first in its class and combines the best of both its electric and petrol-powered Black Eagle UAS.
Brazilian startup Desaer has partnered with electric propulsion developer MagniX to develop a hybrid-electric version of its planned ATL-100 regional utility transport.
Vertical Aerospace has selected Leonardo’s aerostructures division to design, test and manufacture the carbon-composite fuselage for its planned VX4 air taxi.
Potential military missions for the aircraft include “island hopping and distributed cargo logistics in the Indo-Pacific theater or operations in areas with limited infrastructure like Africa,” an Electra executive says.
GE Aviation has teamed with Boeing and its subsidiary Aurora Flight Sciences to modify a Saab 340B into a flying hybrid electric testbed for the recently awarded NASA Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstration project.
Bell Textron has successfully demonstrated operation of its Autonomous Pod Transport (APT) 70 unmanned cargo aircraft with a ground-based detect and avoid system as part of broader infrastructure development efforts for advanced air mobility.
Bloomberg’s Hyperdrive newsletter outlines several actions taken in China relative to electric power and autonomy that could be harbingers of what’s up next around the world.
Working with Deutsche Aircraft, Germany’s H2Fly is planning to fly a 40-seat Dornier 328 regional aircraft modified to hydrogen-electric propulsion in 2026, and the companies are aiming for certification and market entry in 2028.
Universal Hydrogen has completed a 1-megawatt iron bird for ground testing of its zero-emissions fuel-cell propulsion system and announced the first customer in France for its regional aircraft conversion.
Composites have a critical role to play in the advanced air mobility industry, and it goes beyond enabling lightweight vehicles believes Solvay, the Brussels-headquartered international chemicals company.
Already cooperating with the U.S. Air Force through its Agility Prime program, startup Beta Technologies has received a contract from the U.S. Army to support flight testing of its Alia electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft.
Honeywell is preparing to begin an accelerated development and test program for an aircraft electric propulsion unit developed with Japanese electric motor producer Denso.
A Norwegian team has won the race to be first to fly an aircraft that will compete in the new Air Race E piloted all-electric racing series, which is scheduled to begin in 2023.
German startup Lilium has moved its large-scale electric vertical takeoff and landing demonstrator to Spain to open up the flight envelope and begin testing a transition to high-speed, wing-borne flight.
Air taxi developer Volocopter has started flight tests of its two-seat VoloCity electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft in Germany and says it is on track to certify by the end of 2023.
With its initial prototype now in flight testing, U.S. startup Zeva Aero plans to unveil an improved design in February and begin taking preorders for an experimental-category aircraft aimed at first responders and personal flyers.
U.S. startup Elroy Air has unveiled the first preproduction prototype of its Chaparral autonomous cargo aircraft, revealing a revised design for the hybrid electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicle.
Spun out by the Williams Formula 1 racing team at the end of 2019, Williams Advanced Engineering has been expanding from its motorsports roots and applying its high-performance battery and electrification expertise to new sectors, including aviation.
A NASA-funded team is working to connect airborne and cloud-based flight management systems to enable better real-time trajectory optimization and airspace management for advanced air mobility and commercial aviation.
Flight testing of advanced air mobility prototypes under the U.S. Air Force’s Agility Prime program is gathering pace, with the first government remotely piloted flights of an electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) vehicle.
First studied by Bell in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the company has revived the stop/fold tiltrotor concept with new technology to meet the AFWerx call for HSVTOL vehicles for special operation missions.
