Electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) air-taxi developer Overair has begun full-scale ground tests of the 20-ft.-dia. rotor system that will power a flying demonstrator of the company’s Butterfly quad-tiltrotor starting late in 2022 or early in 2023.
High-speed vertical-takeoff-and-landing aircraft developer Transcend Air is conducting ground tests of its Vy 400 tiltwing concept at a drag-racing venue near its Boston headquarters while continuing to raise funds to support full-scale development.
The tests, which involved a piloted flight by Volocopter’s prototype air taxi, demonstrated the service operating model and air traffic management integration.
Startup Archer Aviation has transported its Maker technology demonstrator to a flight test center in California in preparation for a first hover flight of the electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicle before year’s end.
Existing composite materials and manufacturing processes will not scale to the production volumes envisioned for advanced air mobility and startups should consider collaborating to qualify new technologies, urges a company formed to help companies scale up manufacturing.
Norwegian regional airline Wideroe is continuing its journey toward introducing zero-emissions aircraft, signing an agreement with Embraer’s Eve subsidiary to study electric vertical takeoff and landing operations in Scandinavia.
South Korean automaker Hyundai has renamed its urban air mobility division Supernal and plans to begin certification of its electric air taxi in the U.S. in 2024, aiming to launch commercial flights in 2028.
The National Business Aviation Association hailed the final passage by the U.S. House of Representatives of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that contains measures to support efforts to attract and retain aviation workers, fund improvements for general aviation airports and spur next-generation programs.
Gur Kimchi, co-founder of Amazon’s drone delivery service Amazon Prime Air, has joined the board of directors at Near Earth Autonomy, which is working to develop safe and efficient autonomous flight capabilities.
U.S. House members on Nov. 4 passed a bipartisan bill in support of advanced air mobility that would establish an AAM interagency working group to review policies and make recommendations to further the technologies and infrastructure for the new transportation capability.
McKinsey & Co.’s Robin Riedel says approximately $12 billion in funding has flowed into advanced air mobility over the past decades, “a meaningful number.”
Washington State University is helping startup Zeva Aero with development of a single-person electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicle under a grant from the state’s Joint Center for Aerospace Technology Innovation.
Swiss startup Dufour Aerospace has launched a tiltwing unmanned cargo aircraft as a step toward development of its planned Aero3 passenger-carrying electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing aircraft
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and Airborne International Response Team have joined forces to study the use of small unmanned aircraft systems by public safety and emergency response organizations.
