While it may not have been readily apparent to some, there was in fact a strong presence from the vertical flight and electric aviation community at this year’s AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, organized by the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) on July 26–Aug. 1.
Electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) technology has only become a reality in the past decade, but one battery-powered electric helicopter briefly made it off the ground more than 35 years ago.
A number of companies have continued to advance their eSTOL and eCTOL designs.
The litigation between Wisk Aero, LLC, and Archer Aviation, Inc., continues.
In mid-August, Transcend Air Corporation announced agreements with Kaman Corporation and General Electric for the company’s Vy 400 high-speed vertical takeoff and landing aircraft.
Dufour Aerospace, based in Visp, Switzerland, unveiled the latest iteration of its aEro 3 eVTOL tiltwing design.
At a VFS webinar for the eVTOL Writers Group on Aug. 11, Santa Ana, California-based Overair, LLC, unveiled the revised configuration of its Butterfly eVTOL aircraft.
In addition to the 250 orders covered last issue (see “Turning Point,” Vertiflite, July/Aug 2021) from Halo Aviation and Helisul Aviation, Embraer’s Eve Urban Air Mobility Solutions unit has continued its announcements.
Elroy Air — the San Francisco, California-based aerospace and logistics startup developing an end-to-end autonomous eVTOL aerial cargo system — has completed a $40M Series A financing round from Marlinspike Capital, Lockheed Martin Ventures and Prosperity7 Ventures, alongside continued backing from existing investors, including Catapult Ventures, DiamondStream Partners, Side X Side Management, Shield Capital Partners and Precursor Ventures.
Craft Aerospace Technologies completed a $3.5M seed round with Calm Ventures, Countdown Capital, Deep Ventures, Giant Ventures, Soma Capital, Trajectory Capital and Y Combinator, as well as advisor Nikhil Goel, co-founder of Uber Elevate.
