Category Filtering: 'vertiflite'
Like all start-ups, M4 Engineering took what work was available during its formative years in the early 2000s. The Long Beach, California-based company provided engineering services to Boeing and Airbus suppliers while simultaneously supporting new technology programs, such as developing a carbon-fiber door for commercial airliners and optimizing structures for rocket motors.
On May 6, Jaunt Air Mobility announced that the company plans to open design and manufacturing operations in Canada — aligned with its certification path and commercialization strategy — and appointed Eric Côté to head its Canadian operations as president of Jaunt Air Mobility Canada.
Sikorsky’s model S-52 two-place helicopter was developed using company funds following the successful S-51/H-5. The S-52 was Sikorsky’s first helicopter with an offset flapping hinge and all-metal rotor blades, and was aimed at the military observation and medical evacuation role. The project engineer was Ralph Alex, one of the founders of the American Helicopter Society (AHS) and its first and 15th president.
Although the previous Lilium Jet full-scale demonstrators were not flown extensively — and neither transitioned to fully wingborne flight — Lilium has conducted extensive analysis and ground testing that supports their technology.
In the timeline of electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft developments, Lilium GmbH first came to widespread public attention in April 2017 with the release of a video of the futuristic, prototype, two-seat Lilium Jet flying around outside the Bavarian capital of Munich, at the Special Airport Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany.
VFS conducted a workforce study early last year (www.vtol.org/workforce) identifying some of the major challenges for the vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) industry and addressed key points in our commentary, “Looking Back: A Perspective on the Future Vertical Workforce,” Vertiflite, July/Aug 2020.
Numerous electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) designs rely on hybrid electric propulsion to offset the limited power density of current battery technology (see “Halfway to Paradise?” Vertiflite, Sept/Oct 2020).
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.
Much has been written about the plans and development progress for Ingenuity; see "Red Planet Rotorcraft," Vertiflite, July/August 2018 and "NASA Mars Helicopter Team Striving for a 'Kitty Hawk' Moment," Vertiflite, May/June 2020.
April 19, 2021 — a day for the record books: the successful first flight of an aircraft on another planet. Lifting off from the surface of Mars to a modest 10 ft (3 m), NASA’s diminutive Ingenuity helicopter made a humble start that holds huge significance for future flights.
