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.
Workhorse Group has posted video of its SureFly hybrid-electric two-seat eVTOL conducting multiple free flights. In a video posted on YouTube on Aug. 6, 2018, entitled "SureFly 8-2-2018 Flight Test Reel", the aircraft is seen rising up on multiple hovers to a skid height of approximately 10-20 ft (3-6 m) for several seconds at a time, apparently at the Cincinnati Municipal Lunken Airport in Cincinnati, Ohio.
The CAFE Foundation held its 2018 Electric Aircraft Symposium at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh's Alumni Welcome and Conference Center on Saturday and Sunday July 21-22, 2018, in conjunction with the Experimental Aircraft Association's AirVenture at Oshkosh, Wisconsin, USA. The title of the CAFE EAS was "The Future of Flight: Electric Aviation Technologies and Opportunities."
A number of eVTOL aircraft were on display at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, USA, in July 2018. Ken Swartz, VFS Board Member and President of Aeromedia Communications, took lots of photos and made a presentation on The Electric VTOL Revolution (8 MB pdf) on July 25 as part of the EAA Forums.
Urban Air Mobility — Are Flying Cars Ready for Take-Off?
US House of Representatives' Committee on Science, Space, and Technology
Full Committee Hearing, Tuesday, July 24, 2018 – 10:00 am
This first-ever Congressional hearing on Urban Air Mobility was live-streamed.
The Electric VTOL News™ now has more than 100 aircraft cataloged in the most extensive directory of electric and hybrid-electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft in the world. Launched in April 2017 after the first Uber Elevate Summit, the directory grew at a rate of about one aircraft per week during the first year, but this has now accelerated to an average rate of two aircraft per week as more aircraft are unveiled and new actors join The Electric VTOL Revolution.
The Vertical Flight Society now has more than 25 hours of online videos related to electric VTOL aircraft and technology.
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Subscribe to the VFS YouTube Channel at www.youtube.com/VTOLsociety for the latest news and educational videos on vertical flight, including:
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.)
The goal of the GoFly Prize is to foster the development of safe, quiet, ultra-compact, near-VTOL personal flying devices capable of flying twenty miles while carrying a single person. Here’s the story so far, nine months into the two-year competition. On June 14, the GoFly Prize announced the 10 award recipients after its Phase I competition.
Vertical Flight Society Executive Director Mike Hirschberg provided an overview of eVTOL promise and progress in a briefing, "The Electric VTOL Revolution," to the VFS San Francisco Bay Area Chapter on July 2, 2018. More than 100 people attended, including dozens of NASA Rotorcraft Aeromechanics interns from around the United States.
