Airbus intends to continue developing its CityAirbus eVTOL program in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic, the manufacturer told eVTOL.com on May 5. The CityAirbus multicopter began free-flight testing at the end of 2019 with the goal of informing future eVTOL designs in a similar way as the company’s Silicon Valley eVTOL demonstrator, the A³ Vahana tiltwing.
NASA Langley Research Center on April 24 premiered a video describing its Langley Aerodrome 8 (LA-8) modular unmanned aerial vehicle, a testbed the agency called a “flying laboratory for urban air mobility.” NASA is using the LA-8 to investigate different eVTOL technologies and configurations in the hopes of aiding the private sector in establishing the UAM market.
The Utah Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Initiative (UAMMI), a multi-disciplinary association working to strengthen the state’s manufacturing and technical capabilities, announced April 14 it had partnered with Salt Lake City, Utah-based personal flying vehicle developer ElectraFly to create 3D-printed carbon fiber aircraft parts for its hybrid-electric VTOL aircraft.
Electric propulsion system designer MagniX and engineering, testing and certification firm AeroTEC conducted the first flight of an all-electric conventional takeoff and landing (eCTOL) modification to a Cessna Caravan 208B plane on May 28. AeroTEC called the 11-seat eCaravan (shown) the largest commercial electric aircraft to date.
Daedalean AG — a four-year-old Swiss startup developing aircraft-agnostic flight control software using computer-vision and machine-learning to perform tasks ranging from pilot augmentation to fully autonomous flight — is conducting a Series B funding round with a $25M goal by the end of this year.
