France’s VoltAero conducted the first flight of its Cassio 1 hybrid-electric conventional takeoff and landing (eCTOL) aircraft on March 10 at its Royan-Médis Aérodrome facility. The testbed aircraft was powered by two 80-hp (60-kW) Safran ENGINeUS 45 electric motors with forward-facing propellers, three 80-hp Emrax electric motors driving a rear pusher prop, and a 402-hp (300-kW) modified Nissan V6 internal combustion...
The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) concluded on March 27 that the crash of an unmanned Kitty Hawk Heaviside (above, Kitty Hawk credit) eVTOL during an Oct. 17, 2019, developmental test flight in Tres Pinos, California, was caused by a software timing error affecting the aircraft’s controllability. The timing error had, in turn, been caused by an operator failing to terminate a battery charging script prior to...
A secretive eVTOL aircraft startup has been reportedly hiring away experienced engineers from other urban air mobility (UAM) companies, according to Aviation Today on April 6. The publication’s unnamed sources said Archer Aviation of Santa Clara, California, has collected a team of about 20 individuals, including previous employees from Kitty Hawk and from Airbus’ Vahana demonstrator team. The sources added that Archer...
SkyDrive, Inc., announced April 7
Beta Technologies has developed a modular charging station ahead of expected demand by operators of eVTOL aircraft, drones and conventional helicopters. The Vermont based company founded in 2017 said its station can be configured quickly in a variety of locations — ranging from dense urban centers to remote outposts — and with several optional modules — from a pilot lounge and sleeping quarters to an elevated landing deck — depending on the mission and environment.
In a press release dated April 4, Tokyo-based SkyDrive announced that it had hired Nobuo Kishi as its chief technology officer (CTO). Kishi — standing on the right in the photo, with company president Tomohiro Fukuzawa — previously held top positions at Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation, and will lead the development and certification efforts to bring the SkyDrive eVTOL aircraft to market in 2023.
In March, J. Scott Drennan (shown) updated his LinkedIn profile to note that he was now the chief research and development officer at Hyundai Motor Group’s Urban Air Mobility (UAM) division, after 26 years at Bell. Most of Drennan’s career was as a structural analyst, but included three years in management roles on the joint Bell-Leonardo AW609 program (2011–2014), followed by leadership roles in air vehicle integration and innovation.
Twenty-one teams from 10 countries were invited to participate in the GoFly Prize Final Fly Off competition on Feb. 28–29, many to showcase their “personal flyers” and several to compete for a $1M Grand Prize. The event was held at Moffett Federal Airfield at NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California, in the heart of the Silicon Valley.
On April 27–May 1, the US Air Force held a week-long virtual launch event for its Agility Prime initiative. Dr. Will Roper, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology & Logistics, launched the program to accelerate the growth of the transformative vertical flight market for subsequent government use.
In 2015, NASA began a four-year project to provide guidance for low-altitude (under 500 ft/150 m) air traffic management for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). This UAS Traffic Management (UTM) project set out to define all aspects of lowaltitude traffic management including airspace management and geo-fencing, weather and wind, predict and manage congestion, terrain and man-made objects and safe separation. The program provided problem sets with increasing complexity, from unpopulated land (UTM-1) to autonomous, beyond visual line-ofsight, urban operations (UTM-4).
