Category Filtering: 'vertiflite'
Massachusetts-based Terrafugia, Inc., announced on Jan. 26 that it had obtained FAA Special Light-Sport Aircraft (LSA) airworthiness certificate for its Transition roadable aircraft (with automobile certification to follow in 2022).
The UK government’s Future Flight Challenge announced in January that it had selected the company Urban Air Port, partnered with Hyundai Motor Group and the Coventry City Council, to develop the Air-One skyport hub to evaluate eVTOL aircraft operations.
Jaunt Air Mobility and its partners made several announcements before and since the beginning of 2021. On Dec. 16, the company announced that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with VerdeGo Aero to explore the development of a hybrid-electric version of its Jaunt slowed rotor/compound (SR/C) electric rotorcraft.
The Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) has unveiled three lift-plus-cruise eVTOL aircraft prototypes. The company’s hybrid-electric VTOL project was started in 2019 and the company’s Beijing Civil Aircraft Technology Research Center (BCATRC) has built two prototypes.
Bell has continued developments of its Autonomous Pod Transport (APT) tailsitting eVTOL cargo drone. On Dec. 9, Bell flew its APT 70 with 110 lb (50 kg) of payload over an 8-mile (12.9-km) route at Bell’s testing site near Fort Worth, Texas.
Designers of electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft typically envision multi-propeller air taxis controlled by RPM or collective blade pitch. The Eagle Flight Research Center (EFRC) at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University built a hovering multi-rotor testbed to try rotor speed, collective pitch and helicopter-style cyclic pitch in normal and emergency situations.
A year after the electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft industry saw its first start-up valued at more than $1B (see “The First Electric VTOL Unicorn: Joby Aviation,” Vertiflite, March/April 2020), a growing number of companies across the advanced air mobility (AAM) industry are looking to merge with a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) that is already publicly traded to raise the funds necessary to bankroll future growth.
Archer and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles announced on Jan. 12, 2021 that they have entered into an agreement so Archer can benefit from access to FCA’s low-cost supply chain, advanced composite material capabilities, and engineering and design experience.
At Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Eagle Flight Research Center (EFRC) in Daytona Beach, Florida, Professor Richard "Pat" Anderson oversees investigations of alternative propulsion, unmanned aircraft systems, flight controls and automation, plus related certification issues.
By Kenneth I. Swartz
Vertiflite, Jan/Feb 2021
