Safran is gaining experience in electric propulsion, testing prototypes and studying aircraft architectures as it positions itself as the supplier of a full range of motors for all-electric and hybrid propulsion systems, from light aircraft to narrowbodies.
A potential order for five electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft by the U.S. Air Force in fiscal 2023 may not register on lists of the largest customers for the flying taxi industry, but could still have a major impact on the experimental technology.
As manufacturers progress toward type certification of their electric air taxis, preparations for production are gathering pace. And the industry leaders are taking different approaches.
As Dana Jensen, senior industrial policy analyst, keeps watch over the development of advanced air mobility vehicles and their supply chains through the lens of the U.S. Air Force Agility Prime initiative, he has a recurring thought.
Advanced air mobility’s OEMs held their positions for the April listing of the AAM Reality Index, developed by SMG Consulting in partnership with Aviation Week.
What a journey across town in an autonomous air taxi could look like, flying through airspace shared with drones and piloted aircraft, is revealed in a new concept of operations for urban air mobility produced by Wisk Aero and vertiports developer Skyports.
In the latest round of the legal battle between Wisk and Archer, Archer has filed a lawsuit accusing Boeing of launching a media smear campaign intended to harm the rival eVTOL startup.
Zanite Acquisition has beefed up the committed funding that is backing its planned going-public merger with Eve, Embraer’s urban air mobility spinoff, as it heads into a May 6 shareholder vote on the deal.
In August 2019 I wrote in Aviation Week & Space Technology about how the electronic vertical takeoff and landing sector was a hot topic in the industry.
Honeywell has started testing reaction time differences between expert pilots and novices on its prototype simplified vehicle operation cockpit system for electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft.
Bcomp, a Swiss startup producing composites using natural fibers, has received an investment from Airbus Ventures as part of a CHF34 million ($35 million) Series B financing round led by BMW i Ventures.
A hybrid-electric power system designed for applications ranging from drones to uncrewed cargo aircraft and passenger air taxis has been unveiled by startup LaunchPoint Electric Propulsion Solutions.
With testing of a subscale uncrewed demonstrator underway in waters off Tampa, Florida, Regent has solidified its maritime certification path with confirmations from U.S. and European aviation regulators that its planned wing-in-ground-effect (WIG) regional transports are not considered aircraft.
Austrian startup CycloTech and Japanese package carrier Yamato have completed a study into the feasibility of developing an uncrewed cargo aircraft using thrust-vectoring cyclorotor propulsion to operate in confined urban areas, even in high winds.
German energy company EnBW and aerospace research agency DLR have launched a three-year project to explore the use of cargo and passenger drones to support the maintenance of offshore wind farms.
Germany’s Lilium has taken another step in the type certification process for its electric vertical takeoff and landing air taxi, submitting its means of compliance to the European Union Aviation Safety Agency.
Benefiting perhaps from steadily improving relations between China and Indonesia, EHang has secured its largest commitment to date from an Asian customer with preorders for 100 EH216 autonomous air taxis from Prestige Aviation, an Indonesian aircraft sales and management company.
