Category Filtering: 'vertiflite'
On Sept. 29, Hyundai Motor Group revealed that it has established an Urban Air Mobility Division and appointed Dr. Jaiwon Shin as its Executive Vice President and Head. Shin was most recently the NASA Associate Administrator for Aeronautics at NASA, where he shaped the agency’s aeronautics research and development strategy for 11 years.
On Sept. 16, Air Force Assistant Secretary for Acquisition Will Roper commented at the annual Air Force Association’s annual national convention that it was following the recent “flying car” developments of the eVTOL industry. As a result, the Air Force Research Lab at Wright-Patterson AirForce Base is launching a new initiative called Agility Prime.
The Vertical Flight Society has been leading efforts since 2014 to support the realization of electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. Over this time, VFS has been working with a growing number of associations, trying to get everyone involved in solving the daunting challenges this new type of aircraft face. Now that terms like eVTOL, air taxis and urban air mobility (UAM) are commonplace, many new associations and organizations have realized that they also need to get involved to support the development of this promising — and potentially transformative — capability.
XTI Aircraft Company announced on Sept.16 that it was invited to and participated in a large investment trade fair in Guizhou Province, China. A draft agreement was signed regarding the formation of a joint venture in China that could provide the means to assemble and support the TriFan 600 aircraft in Guizhou Province, China, and to market and sell the TriFan 600 in a specified geographical area.
The Vertical Flight Society has been supporting the development of electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft since 2014. One of the defining challenges for implementing eVTOL for urban air mobility (UAM) is the lack of applicable regulations. Standards organizations like ASTM International, RTCA, SAE International and the European Organisation for Civil Aviation Equipment (EUROCAE) have been working with the burgeoning community in developing standards to support certification. In addition, the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) has been working with the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and other regulators to facilitate harmonized standards development for eVTOL certification.
While essentially all of the news on electric aviation in Vertiflite has focused on electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, developments of electric conventional take-off and landing (eCTOL) airplanes have recently accelerated.
The world’s largest gathering of pilots and aviation enthusiasts takes place every year in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, where the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) has hosted its massive fly-in convention for 50 years.
Oshkosh has a long been associated with innovation, from experimental homebuilt aircraft and Burt Rutan’s imaginative designs to the world’s fastest, largest and most expensive civilian and military aircraft.
Based outside of Munich, Germany, Lilium announced on June 11 that it had selected London to be “the base for a world-class software team it plans to develop.” Hundreds of high-end software engineering roles will be created in the city over the next five years as the business seeks to make affordable, electric, on-demand air taxis a reality by 2025.
According to the Daily Sabah newspaper, Istanbul-based UAV manufacturer Baykar is nearing completion of the country’s first eVTOL aircraft, called the “Cezeri” — named after the 12th century Muslim inventor/engineer Ismail al-Jazari.
NEC Corporation has developed an eVTOL testbed to help development autonomous management systems for UAM aircraft. NEC stated that the much larger eVTOL aircraft fly differently than small drones and they need a full-size eVTOL aircraft to obtain the data needed to allow them to make and validate working aircraft management systems.
