News

Uber Announces Agreements with NASA and Plans for Los Angeles

• 08 Nov 2017 04:14 PM
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Uber announced today that it has signed a Space Act Agreement with NASA for the development of new Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM) concepts and Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) that will enable safe and efficient operations of small UAS at low altitudes. Uber’s participation in NASA’s UTM Project will help the company’s goal of starting demonstration flights of uberAIR in select U.S. cities by 2020. This is Uber’s first partnership with a federal government agency in pursuit of operating a global urban aviation rideshare network.

From Aerovelo to Kitty Hawk (sidebar)

• 06 Nov 2017 01:40 PM
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The Kitty Hawk engineering team is led by Dr. Todd Reichert (aerodynamics) and Cameron Robertson (structures).

While graduate students at the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies (UTIAS) in Canada, Reichert and Robertson worked with Dr. James DeLaurier on the engine-powered “Big Flapper” ornithopter — an aircraft that generates thrust by flapping its wings like a bird, rather than using a propeller. 

Back to Kitty Hawk

• 03 Nov 2017 10:27 PM
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It’s a long way from the windy sand dunes of the Outer Banks of North Carolina to the San Francisco Bay, but the aviation adventure that the Wright brothers launched near Kitty Hawk in 1903 now continues with new electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft being developed by Silicon Valley startups.

Commentary: "Vertical Flight Saves Lives"

• 29 Oct 2017 02:28 PM
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Unprecedented earthquakes, fires, hurricanes, flooding and other natural disasters filled the news over the past several months. Equally prevalent were stories of vertical flight aircraft saving lives, protecting property and providing support after infrastructure was destroyed.

CityAirbus Starts Spinning

• 25 Oct 2017 02:26 PM
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Airbus Helicopters announced that its four-seat, quad-ducted propeller eVTOL, the CityAirbus, was getting close to its maiden flight planned for late 2018.

Dubai is Electric

• 25 Oct 2017 02:23 PM
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Germany’s Volocopter (previously known as “e-volo”) conducted the first public flight of its VC200 in Dubai on Sept. 25 (shown). Flight testing of the prototype for Volocopter’s 2X two-seat production vehicle will “be used for the world’s first self-flying taxi service set to be introduced” by Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA). 

Lilium Raises $90M

• 25 Oct 2017 02:20 PM
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In early September, Munich-based Lilium announced that it had raised $90M in a Series B funding round. Investors included Chinese tech giant Tencent; private banking and asset management firm LGT; U.K.-based venture capitalist firm Atomico (a Series A investor); and Obvious Ventures. 

Manned Passenger Drone

• 25 Oct 2017 01:48 PM
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On Aug 28, the company Passenger Drone announced that it had been working in “stealth mode” on a two-seat distributed electric VTOL aircraft: “For the past three years, Passenger Drone has been developing a zero-emissions, easy-to-use passenger drone that has the potential to eliminate stressful commutes.

AHS Supports GoFly!

• 20 Oct 2017 04:10 PM
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On Sept. 26, Gwen Lighter, CEO of the GoFly Prize Group, LLC, announced a global competition to encourage innovators to create safe and easy-to-use personal flying devices.

eVTOL News Video, Ep.1: Kitty Hawk Flyer Demo

• 15 Oct 2017 01:46 PM
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AHS is proud to kick off its original series of eVTOL News videos! Episode 1: "Kitty Hawk Flyer Demo" is an interview with Kitty Hawk's director of engineering, Dr. Todd Reichert (of Aerovelo fame), and includes clips from the first public flight on July 28, 2017 at EAA AirVenture 2017 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

From Vertiflite, Nov/Dec 2017