The US Air Force officially launched its Agility Prime initiative when it issued a request for information (RFI) on Dec. 17, 2019 — the 116th anniversary of the Wright Flyer making the first heavier-than-air powered flight. In the first intake of companies in the Air Force’s “Air Race to Certification,” some 20 eVTOL companies applied to participate.
This year, the US Air Force’s Agility Prime initiative will help finance the flight test and certification efforts of about 20 different eVTOL aircraft participating in its “Air Race to Certification” program.
Among the many luminaries in rotorcraft history, the name Frank Piasecki stands out alongside that of Igor Sikorsky. While Sikorsky flew America’s first successful helicopter in 1939, young Piasecki was close on his heels. In 1943, he became the second designer to fly a successful helicopter in the US (see sidebar).
For the past two years, I have included a discussion about the “Five Key Challenges” of electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft in my public briefings. I initially referred to them (tongue in cheek) as “five simultaneous miracles” necessary to have urban air mobility (UAM) air taxi in service by the Uber Elevate goal of 2023.
Most consider aircraft survivability only about reduction of aircraft radar signature, or radar cross section (RCS), through shaping and materials. Lowered RCS reduces the range at which a threat radar can detect, locate and identify a target, ideally reduced to a range so small that one can act with impunity — a significant military advantage.
The website eVTOL Insights published its “Power Book” in January, its “definitive list of the influencers, innovators and leaders from the last 12 months.” The intent is to recognize excellence and achievement in the electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) industry. To be released every year, the Power Book 2021 “recognizes 21 of the industry’s brightest individuals from across the world and their company’s achievements in 2020.”
Skyworks Aeronautics Corp. announced on Feb. 8, a $100M investment commitment from GEM Global Yield LLC SCS, a fund of the Luxembourg Global Emerging Markets Group (GEM).
Lufthansa Innovation Hub and Lufthansa Technik released a report on Feb. 3 entitled, “Are air taxis ready for prime time?” According to the company, the engaging report “provides a data-driven view into the state of the air taxi ecosystem including a patent analysis ranking eVTOL technology leaders.”
On Jan. 27, Munich, Germany-based Lilium announced that it had signed a framework agreement to develop a network of at least 10 vertiports with Ferrovial, a global leading infrastructure operator based in Madrid, Spain. The zero-carbon infrastructure and services “will cover strategic locations in all major cities across Florida.”
At the VFS eVTOL Symposium in January, San Francisco, California-based Airflow announced that it was beginning development of “one of the first full-scale piloted technology demonstrators of an eSTOL aircraft.” For the last year, Airflow has been utilizing a sub-scale model for test flights that have helped develop its eSTOL flight control technology.
