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.
California-based electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) air taxi developer Overair has begun full power ground tests of the 20-ft.-dia. rotor system that will power a flying demonstrator of the company’s Butterfly quad-tiltrotor starting in 2023.
Rolls-Royce’s £6 million ($8.17 million) Spirit of Innovation electric aircraft has secured the world electric aircraft speed record following verification by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale.
Swiss startup Daedalean has closed a $58 million financing round that will provide the funds needed to bring its machine-leaning-based visual guidance, navigation and control suite to market over the next four years.
A Japanese team has demonstrated an integrated sea-air drone combining an unmanned aircraft and underwater robot and designed to reduce the cost and risk of marine inspections and repairs.
UK startup Electric Aviation Group is continuing its strategy of building out the enabling technologies for its planned zero-emissions 90-seat hydrogen hybrid-electric regional airliner, the H2ERA.
AutoFlight Europe has set up shop in Augsburg, Germany, and is being led by Mark Henning, who joined the Chinese group from Airbus Helicopters earlier this month.
Many of the radio altimeters currently installed on aircraft likely will have to be retrofitted with filters or replaced to protect against potential 5G interference, experts say.
Regent Craft has teamed with Rhode Island-based marine and aerospace composites specialist Moore Brothers to build a quarter-scale technology demonstrator for its seaglider, an electric wing-in-ground-effect vehicle for harbor-to-harbor overwater regional transportation.
The Airbus-sponsored Perlan 2 stratospheric glider will carry a Thales FlytLink satellite communications terminal when it returns to flight, enabling real-time data downloads from altitudes exceeding 90,000 ft.
French startup Aura Aero has selected Electric Power Systems (EPS) to provide the battery system for its prototype Integral E electric-powered aerobatic training aircraft.
European LCC easyJet plans to support the development of hydrogen fuel-cell propulsion by the UK’s Cranfield Aerospace Solutions, providing its perspective on how the zero-emissions technology could integrate with future airline operations.
Zero-emissions propulsion developer ZeroAvia has selected Paine Field as the location for a flight research center to support development of a hydrogen-electric powertrain for the De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400 regional turboprop.
Spanish testing specialist Applus has been funded to develop the means for cryogenic testing of hydrogen tanks for aircraft, in support of Airbus’ initiative to field a zero-emissions airliner by the mid-2030s.
Gogo Business Aviation says it remains on track to complete a 150-tower 5G air-to-ground network serving the contiguous U.S. by the second half of 2022.
Joby Aviation has formally added a second preproduction prototype to the test program for its S4 tiltprop electric vertical takeoff and landing air taxi.
After playing out through most of 2020 and 2021 for the electric vertical takeoff and landing industry, the process of assembling memorandums of understanding, letters of intent and other expressions of interest to bolster fundraising drives is underway in other parts of the evolving advanced air mobility market.
New Zealand startup Kea Aerospace has conducted a 14 hr. 3 min. test flight of a subscale prototype as it continues development of a large, solar-powered unmanned aircraft capable of remaining aloft in the stratosphere for months.
