Category Filtering: 'air-force'
The US Air Force report to Congress details the overview, approach, milestones, and future plans for the AFWERX Agility Prime program. This new approach is accelerating and adopting dual-use technologies in the Department of the Air Force, specifically for the transformative vertical lift and electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing (eVTOL) industry.
The US Air Force announced on July 14 that it has conducted the first test flight of LIFT Aircraft’s HEXA at Duke Field, north of Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.
On May 23–30, 2022, Beta Technologies flew its prototype Alia-250 eVTOL aircraft (N250UT) cross country to Bentonville, Arkansas.
On May 23–24, 2022, Beta Technologies flew its prototype Alia-250 eVTOL aircraft (N250UT) cross country to Springfield-Beckley Municipal Airport (SGH) in Ohio.
In January, the US Air Force selected 11 companies to proceed with the conceptual development of a high-speed vertical takeoff and landing (HSVTOL) aircraft. Initiated in the spring of 2021 as the High-Speed VTOL Challenge, the effort is a collaboration between AFWERX, the Air Force’s innovation hub, and US Special Operations Command (SOCOM).
In an event in California between Dec. 13–17, a member of the US Air Force Reserve remotely piloted Palo Alto, California-based Kitty Hawk’s Heaviside eVTOL aircraft, marking the first such flight of its kind by a government entity.
The 2021 clicks are in and the results speak to the breadth and depth of the detailed stories published on eVTOL.news. Here are the top 10 feature articles published in 2021.
The US Air Force (USAF), in partnership with the US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), initiated the “High-Speed Vertical Take-Off and Landing (HSVTOL) Concept Challenge” in April (see “Industry Briefs,” Vertiflite, July/Aug 2021)
On April 7, United Parcel Service (UPS) announced that its UPS Flight Forward subsidiary plans to purchase and operate cargo aircraft from Burlington, Vermont-based Beta Technologies.
The US Air Force officially launched its Agility Prime initiative when it issued a request for information (RFI) on Dec. 17, 2019 — the 116th anniversary of the Wright Flyer making the first heavier-than-air powered flight. In the first intake of companies in the Air Force’s “Air Race to Certification,” some 20 eVTOL companies applied to participate.
