Category Filtering: 'vertiflite'
On Nov. 12, Elroy Air set an aviation milestone when it flew the world’s first turbogenerator-powered hybridelectric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, the Chaparral C1 prototype, the company said in a press release. Utilizing both its turbogenerator system and highpower batteries, the Chaparral C1 took off vertically and flew for 57 seconds at its test flight facility in Byron, California.
Founded in 2019, ERC System GmbH is based in Ottobrunn, Germany, just outside of Munich. Although the company has been a VFS corporate member since just after it was founded, it came out of stealth mode with an unveiling of its full-scale, full-mass prototype on July 3, 2024. The company is focused on developing and certifying an emergency medical service (EMS) electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, though initially targeting patient transfers rather than roadside pickups.
Dr. Martine Rothblatt, founder and CEO of United Therapeutics (UT), has been one of the visionary drivers of the electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft revolution since conceiving of a zero-emissions aerial transplant organ delivery system almost a decade ago.
The 30th edition of the AERO Friedrichshafen general aviation trade show on April 17–20 — held near the beautiful shores of Lake Constance (Bodensee) on the southern edge of Germany — far exceeded the organizers’ expectations.
In May, the NASA Ames Research Center held its “2023 Presidential Rank & NASA Honors Awards” ceremony, presenting 73 individual and 27 group awards to NASA employees, contractors and groups, including many NASA employees and teams working on rotorcraft, electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, advanced air mobility (AAM) and planetary exploration rotorcraft.
On June 10, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) both announced progress in their efforts to streamline and standardize the certification of electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft and other new designs.
Aéro Montréal—a strategic think tank created in 2006 to bring together Québec’s aerospace cluster—held its International Aerospace Innovation Forum at the Palais des congrès de Montréal on May 21–22, two weeks after Forum 80 at the same venue (see “Forum 80: Ideas Earn Their Way,” pg. 26).
The Vertical Flight Society Forum in Montréal considered promising technologies to improve safety, boost performance, cut operating costs and broaden markets.
During April in sunny Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), at the DRIFTx mobility show, we witnessed a preview of a future vertiport, with three leading industry entrants—Archer, EHang and Joby—exhibiting their aircraft a few feet from each other.
In the past several months, the leading developers of electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft made strides toward achieving their vision for advanced air mobility (AAM).
