News

Stand on the Shoulders of Giants

• 01 Jan 2019 08:36 AM
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The Electric VTOL News website now catalogs more than 130 eVTOL aircraft concepts — from the silly to the serious — and is an essential reference for developers and those following this exciting new domain. What information and references are available are included on the website. Concepts are generally publicized to attract interest, investment, talent and/or customers. Some of the innovative eVTOL concepts are backed by extensive research, while others are only notional with their feasibility still to be determined. 

Astro's Elroy Blasts Off

• 06 Nov 2018 05:13 AM
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Astro Aerospace holds the distinction of being one of a handful of electric aircraft developers in the world to have successfully flown a piloted electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. (More details on Astro and links to more resources are available at www.eVTOL.news/passenger-drone.)

Joby Expands in Monterey County

• 03 Sep 2018 04:14 PM
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On Aug. 21, the city council of Marina, California, gave its approval for Joby Aviation to move into two buildings at the Marina Municipal Airport where, according to the Monterey County Weekly, “ they will set about designing and building prototypes of small, electric planes that take off and land vertically, travel faster and more quietly than a helicopter and, according to Joby, do it more safely.”

Opener BlackFly Debuts at Oshkosh

• 01 Sep 2018 01:56 PM
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On July 12, Opener shocked the world by announcing that its BlackFly was the first US- and Canadian-qualified fixed-wing ultralight eVTOL. The company showed stunning video and off-the-charts performance. Here’s the inside story.

On Oct. 5, 2011, Canadian engineer and entrepreneur Marcus Leng flew an eight-rotor tandem-wing electric aircraft from the front yard of his house and became convinced that electric vertical flight had a great future. This aircraft — initially dubbed the “SkyKar Rebel” — was apparently the world’s first fixed-wing electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) flight (see www.evtol.news/evtol-timeline).

The EAA AirVenture VTOL Adventure

• 30 Aug 2018 01:28 PM
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Vertiflite attended the world’s largest annual gathering of aviation enthusiasts in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, to report on the latest developments in vertical flight for the experimental and general aviation market.

The Experimental Aircraft Association’s annual AirVenture fly-in and convention in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, was a showcase for conventional rotorcraft and electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, with no fewer than eight prototype eVTOL aircraft displayed by five innovative companies and more than 50 rotorcraft showcased by manufacturers, operators and collectors.

Electric VTOL is Taking Off. Beware the Hyper-Hype Cycle.

• 30 Aug 2018 11:50 AM
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One of the reasons why members of the nascent helicopter community decided in early 1943 to establish the American Helicopter Society was because they didn’t feel that they were being taken seriously by the aviation establishment.

Bell Files eVTOL Patent

• 27 Aug 2018 03:28 PM
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Bell filed for a patent entitled “Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) Aircraft” on Jan. 2, 2018, and it was published July 26, 2018. Aviation Week’s Graham Warwick noted (in "Does Patent Application Reveal Bell’s eVTOL Design?, The Weekly Of Business Aviation, Aug. 13, 2018) that it “may provide clues to Bell’s design for [its eVTOL] air taxi.”

UrbanAero Launches Full-Scale Development

• 20 Aug 2018 03:25 PM
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Urban Aeronautics has launched full-scale development of its CityHawk hybrid-electric VTOL (see Vertiflite, Jan/Feb 2018). The vehicle will be developed at Urban’s subsidiary, Metro Skyways Ltd, with first manned flights in 2021–22, followed by full certification to US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) FAR Part 27 requirements

VerdeGo Becomes eVTOL Propulsion Provider

• 15 Aug 2018 03:23 PM
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Florida-based VerdeGo Aero has refocused its efforts from developing its PAT200 tandem tiltwing eVTOL aircraft towards developing powertrain and controls solutions. The company announced on Aug. 1 that it was launching its Integrated Distributed Electric Propulsion (IDEP) systems to be a supplier for other eVTOL developers.

Kitty Hawk Flyer Enters Service

• 12 Jul 2018 08:18 AM
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The recent explosion of electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft development has engaged a wide audience of engineers, technologists, enthusiasts and investors, as well as the general public. (News about and details on more than 100 electric VTOL designs can be found in the Vertical Flight Society’s online directory: www.eVTOL.news.)