Month: November 2021

Autoflight has received $100M from “Team Global”, a technology holding led by high profile German/Polish tech entrepreneur Lukasz Gadowski, to fund the development of its safe, clean, quiet and affordable air taxi.

The funding will also be used to expand its current business and initiate the development and certification of a passenger variant according to European (EASA) safety standards. Currently, AutoFlight’s team of approximately 300 people is responsible for the development and manufacturing of its cargo eVTOL (electric vertical take off and landing) aircraft; the company claims its workforce will double within the coming 12 months to support the additional efforts.

AutoFlight plans to initiate a certification program according to European Aviation Safety Association (EASA) standards via the establishment of a European subsidiary, likely to be located in southern Germany. While AutoFlight is headquartered in Shanghai, the startup also runs a passenger flight control system research center in Europe, and an operation and test center in the U.S. The company owns a diversified eVTOL product mix, with a focus on large scale logistic aircraft and autonomous passenger aerial vehicles. Investor Team Global is based in Berlin and has already backed numerous air taxi companies, including Volocopter and Zapata Racing in Europe, Archer in the USA, and now AutoFlight in Asia.

“We are very proud and happy to join such an amazing company like AutoFlight with a fantastic team and a great founder. Air mobility is a beautiful nascent industry ready to grow. No need to build more roads – that preserves resources and nature and makes our cities more livable” said Lukasz Gadowski.

“Welcome Lukasz. That’s a big step for our company. Team Global will help us to expand R&D, certification and operation globally“, according to Tian Yu, Chairman and CEO of AutoFlight. “At AutoFlight, we are determined to unlock the skies for mass individual transport in air. Just in the past month, our autonomous passenger eVTOL proof of concept aircraft V1500M has accomplished its maiden flight.”

Related: Shanghai-based Autoflight Completes First Flight of its V1500M eVTOL Model

Tian Yu: “The AutoFlight eVTOL aircraft is designed to be safe & safer, clean & quiet, affordable & available, comfortable & pleasant. To fulfill and deliver this vision the colleagues from AutoFlight worked hard over the years and settled on a configuration and business model we believe is best suited for the above requirements. The basis of this design is a so-called ‘lift and cruise’ configuration – that combines superior range and safety with the advantages of low complexity and thus high affordability and certifiability to the highest standards of aviation safety.”

Why it’s important: AutoFlight is a highly globalized company, headquartered in Shanghai, with a passenger flight control system research center in Europe, an operation and test center in the U.S. The company owns a diversified eVTOL product mix, with a focus on large scale logistic aircraft and autonomous passenger aerial vehicles. Rapid broadening of its geographical footprint, along with successful funding rounds, will serve AutoFlight well as it continues to expand in an effort to commercialize its product across the globe.

Volocopter announced on November 17^th that the VoloCity will be featured in the upcoming Microsoft Flight Simulator. The announcement occurred at CoMotion LA, from Christian Bauer, Volocopter CCO. “We partnered with the experts at Urban Movement Labs to approach important stakeholders in Los Angeles, a highly relevant US city for us. Now, we are bringing our aircraft to the city to empower people with knowledge about UAM and first-hand experience with our aircraft. We are providing this learning opportunity onsite at CoMotion LA and virtually also to people across the world on 18 November with the new Microsoft Flight Simulator release, where Volocopter is included as the first electric air taxi.”

Earlier this year, Volocopter announced its partnership with Urban Movement Labs (UML), a nonprofit organization facilitating the deployment of new mobility technologies in Los Angeles. Volocopter is working with UML to network with key interest groups on the federal and city levels. This collaboration opens the door for discussions between Volocopter and local entities interested in launching UAM services in the future.

Depiction of Volocopter in MS Flight Simulator. Image // Volocopter

“Our partnership with Volocopter expands the work we are executing as a part of the UAM Partnership with the City of Los Angeles.  This work will inform the future UAM ecosystem in L.A. using a community-first strategy, conducted with Angelenos for Angelenos. By working together with Urban Movement Labs, Volocopter is showing their commitment to keeping the community in mind, and we are proud to be partnering with these pioneers on this journey and facilitating their market entry,” says Sam Morrissey, Executive Director at Urban Movement Labs.

In January of this year, Volocopter announced its intention to bring air taxis to US cities. In July, Volocopter conducted the first-ever crewed public test flight of a fully electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) air taxi in the US. Soon, people in LA and worldwide will also be able to experience virtual flights in the VoloCity in the newest release of Microsoft Flight Simulator (MSFS). In a partnership with the MSFS team, Volocopter’s VoloCity will be the first rotor-based vehicle in MSFS.

“Volocopter’s vision of urban air mobility is compelling, and we are delighted to present a hands-on preview of the aircraft inside Microsoft Flight Simulator. We had a great time working closely with the engineering and design teams at Volocopter during the last 6 months and are pleased with how accurate the electric VoloCity was realized in Microsoft Flight Simulator. Starting tomorrow, flight simmers and aviation enthusiasts everywhere can experience this extraordinary aircraft for the first time,” says Jorg Neumann, Head of Microsoft Flight Simulator.

Why it’s important: The cross-branding of Volcopter’s leading eVTOL product with the digital reflection of the airplane in Microsoft Flight Simulator is another means for the aerial mobility industry to expand and reinforce its influence among aviation, and on a larger scale, mobility as a whole. Partnerships between companies such as Microsoft and Volocopter will grow the sphere of influence of aerial mobility and provide an engaging, fast-paced means for learning and interaction with the next generation of transportation methods. This also means a wider age range of audience.

Reveled in September, Airbus announced the next iteration of its eVTOL development, the CityAirbus NextGen. This fully electric vehicle is equipped with fixed wings, a V-shaped tail, and eight electrically powered propellers as part of its uniquely designed distributed propulsion system. It is designed to carry up to four passengers in zero-emissions flight for multiple applications.

As more information about NextGen comes out, this week Airbus announced it has selected Thales and Diehl Aerospace to design and develop the primary and secondary flight control computers for the eVTOL aircraft, respectively. The two flight control computers will be redundant and completely independent of one another to improve system-level safety of NextGen.

“I’m delighted to announce today the first system partnership for the development of our CityAirbus NextGen” Joerg P. Mueller, head of urban air mobility at Airbus said in the release. “UAM is a joint effort. Nobody can do it alone. Airbus is reaching out to potential partners from the industry to design and build an optimised vehicle for safe and efficient air transport in urban environments. With Thales and Diehl, we are proud to have two excellent partners with a lot of expertise on board.”

Thales and Airbus have a long standing relationship from the company’s commercial aerospace business. Thales has been responsible for developing Airbus’ now industry-leading fly-by-wire flight controls beginning with the A310 some 40 years ago. Diehl also has deep ties with Airbus and Thales and has extensive experience developing avionics systems on commercial airliners and helicopters.

“We are thrilled to see that our close cooperation with Airbus and Diehl is once again delivering concrete results through an agreement that will add a whole new dimension to air mobility,” Yannick Assouad, Thales Executive Vice President, Avionics, said, commenting on the new partnership. “With this safe and innovative flight control solution, we are working together to build an airspace environment we can all trust.”

Why it matters: Thales and Diehl’s partnership with CityAirbus brings decades of avionics prowess in fly-by-wire technology and systems architecture to the eVTOL space. With EASA working on special rules for the certification of aerial mobility crafts and Airbus’ relationship with the regulator, CityAirbus is likely to be a technological and commercial success. Expect more partnerships coming from CityAirbus NextGen to be announced as details of the development emerge.

Thomas Senkel, one of the original founders of the company that eventually became Volocopter, has now unveiled his own eVTOL concept that features a tandem fixed-wing design for optimized efficiency.In 2011, Thomas Senkel became one of the world’s first people to take flight aboard a prototype multi-copter. That original prototype was made up of of sixteen rotors that held up a yoga ball which acted as a seat for the single passenger aircraft. At the time, the group of people responsible for creating the prototype formed the company ‘e-Volo’, which eventually changed its name to Volocopter. Volocopter is now one of the world’s top eVTOL air taxi creators, having made partnerships all over the world, received production approval from EASA, and raised over $200 million in startup funding.

IN 2016, Senkel chose to part from Volocopter, explaining that although he believed in the company’s air taxi vision, he wanted to create a vehicle with increased flight efficiency and greater range capabilities. He most recently said, “”I’ve always been unhappy with pure multicopters, because they are so inefficient. There must be a better way: combining an efficient aircraft with VTOL props leads to five times more range and endurance.”

Michael Kügelgen, left (co-founder of eMagic), and Thomas Senkel (right) pose with e-Magic’s new aircraft.

eMagic, the new company founded by Senkel and partner Michael Kügelgen, have created an aircraft that has a range of about 120 miles with a 90mph cruise speed. Volocopter original aircraft, the Volocopter 2X, had an intra-city range of only about 20 miles. The eMagic aircraft features a total 9 propellers; 8 lift-providing propellers fitted onto cross-bars, and one larger ‘puller’ propeller at nose of the aircraft. The prototype has already been iterated several times, and has even undergone several successful manned test flights, having been flown by Senkel himself.

Senkel mentioned, “The tandem wing configuration gives excellent flight characteristics. It’s impossible to stall it. It softly goes into a higher sink rate when the stick is pulled, but it remains controllable all the time. This behavior is very useful for transition between flight modes.”

It’s worth mentioning that in May of 2021, Volocopter itself unveiled a higher-range, higher efficiency fixed wing aircraft called the Voloconnect, which will be capable of achieving up to about 60 miles of range. This aircraft will not replace its original shorter range aircraft, but will add to Volocopter’s aircraft family for longer-distance applicatications.

Why it’s important: Thomas Senkel’s unveiling of the e-magic aircraft further proves out the diversity of the eVTOL air taxi market. While shorter range, intra-city products like Volocopter’s Volocity have a wide range of key applications especially within dense urban areas, there will also be great demand for longer range aircraft that are designed for more medium range ‘middle-mile’ transport applications. While both approaches are certain to have success in different market segments, eMagic’s new eVTOL represents a new kind of aircraft design the will further push forward the capabilities of this new generation of aircraft.

Source // NewsAtlas, eMagic

While the end goal of aerial mobility aircraft is fully autonomous flight, bridging the gap from the current technological state of manned/piloted aircraft to autonomous operation will take time. In the interim, trained pilots for aerial mobility systems will be required, and flight simulators will undoubtedly adapt in preparation of the unique training requirements for eVTOLs.

Some eVTOL manufacturers have already built their own training simulators for their pilots to aid in system checkouts and flight test preparations, while others do not yet have fully functional simulators. Third-party groups that specialize in flight simulation, such as MOC Simulation Services, are working to develop tailor-made full motion flight simulators for eVTOL flight training. MOC’s first simulator will be a full scale, representative 4 place eVTOL configuration with 6 degrees of motion freedom.

MOC’s simulator will feature an expanded vertical view of +30°/-60° and horizontal 240°. The -60° field of view is special for eVTOL operations, because it will be specially adapted to the needs of vertical takeoff and landing, similar to helicopter simulators which require wider ranges of view than classic fixed-wing simulators. The system will use a Roll-In/Roll-Off technology for modular eVTOL flight deck configurations, similar to RedBird simulators for general aviation aircraft, which feature interchangeable panel configurations. The company stated that the simulator will be fully functional for training near the end of 2022.

Why it’s important: MOC might be one of the few companies publicizing their eVTOL simulator at this time, but substantial R&D efforts have already been made by eVTOL makers and third party simulation engineering firms to prepare for the new demands of aerial mobility flight training. With the deferral of the pilot shortage due to COVID now coming to an end, a huge demand for pilots will also spill over to eVTOL aircraft in the next 5-10 years as initial designs achieve certification. Continue to monitor MOC and other simulation providers as the training infrastructure to support aerial mobility develops in the coming months.

Airflow, the developer of one of the world’s first all-electric cargo eSTOLs (short take-off and landing aircraft) has partnered with electric aircraft expert Pipistrel to provide propulsion components.

Rendering of Airflow’s cargo eSTOL on the runway

Airflow, the all-electric eSTOL developer founded by several former members of the Airbus Vahana project, has just added yet another partner to its growing list of propulsion providers. While it has selected Verdego Aero for an upcoming hybrid-electric powertrain, and Plug Power for a potential hydrogen-power configuration, electric aircraft expert Pipistrel is now set to provide Airflow’s eSTOLs with motors, motor controllers, and batteries. These will be used on Airflow’s full-scale proof-of-concept prototype, laying the groundwork for the production version of the aircraft.

To date, Pipistrel is the maker of the first and still the only type-certified electric airplane in the world, the Velis Electro.

Pipistrel’s Velis Electro, the world’s first all-electric type-certified airplane.

The initial, cargo-carrying version of the Airflow eSTOL is aimed primarily at ‘middle mile’ transport of e-commerce goods and more. The company claims that its aircraft will be able to effectively replace many middle-mile cargo trucks that take items from shipping ports to warehouses, by providing transport at much higher speeds for only slightly higher costs, while at the same time using much greener energy. Airflow is also targeting hospitals, which often need items transported much more quickly than is possible by truck. The Airflow eSTOL will take-off and land within 150 feet with 500 lbs of cargo, fly at speeds up to 200 mph, with ranges of up to 500 miles depending on power supply configuration.

Said Marc Ausman, Founder and CEO of Airflow, “Pipistrel’s pioneering work in electric flight and their industry-leading experience in building and certifying powertrains for electric aircraft makes them an ideal partner to help us build and fly a first-of-its-kind eSTOL airplane. They understand and can meet the challenges of a high-performance system with the reliability and safety requirements of the aerospace industry.”

Said Ivo Boscarol, CEO of Pipistrel, “We relish working with partners that are pursuing ambitious and achievable goals in electric aviation. The Airflow team understands what it takes to bring a new electric aircraft to market and their experience building and flying the Airbus Vahana makes them one of the best positioned teams to accomplish this.”

Rendering of the Airflow eSTOL in flight

Why it’s important: Pipistrel is becoming an industry-leading expert as an electric propulsion developer and manufacturer. Its recent deal with Airflow, combined with high degree of success in developing and manufacturing its own Velis Electro fixed-wing aircraft, give it a higher degree of validity than many other new players in the space. Airflow meanwhile, is gaining exponential momentum towards certification through this and other partnerships, and with its strategic market positioning, is looking to become one of the first distributed electric-propulsion commercial solutions to hit the market.

Related:

• Pipistrel’s Velis Electro Set to Break 7 World Records During Flight
• Pipistrel and Amazilia Aerospace to develop Heavy Cargo Hybrid VTOL Drone for SF Express
• Airflow Receives Order for 50 eSTOL Aircraft from Ravn Alaska
• Airflow Launches an Electric STOL

Source // Pipistrel

Hyundai Motor Group has publicly announced its urban air mobility division, Supernal, this week. The division will be based on Washington DC and is tasked with bringing an eVTOL product to market with public and private stakeholders.

“In adding a new dimension to mobility, we are on a mission to transform how people and society move, connect, and live,” said Jaiwon Shin, chief executive officer of Supernal and president of Hyundai Motor Group, in a press release.

Supernal has made its intentions clear, they will not be the first to market. Instead, the company is targeting a conservative 2028 for first commercial flight of its eVTOL prototype. In doing so, Supernal hopes to take on lessons from eVTOL companies with early success and find winning configurations.

“We are working to build the right product and the right integrated market, and we will leverage Hyundai Motor Group’s scaled manufacturing expertise to ensure AAM reaches the right price point and is accessible to the masses,” Shin said.

Hyundai has been no stranger to the aerial mobility space. Since 2019, the company has been working on concept vehicles and hopes to begin pursuing US certification in 2024. Currently, the leading prototype is S-A1 which will be all-electric, autonomous, and capable of accommodating four to five passengers.

The company is also making strides in the supporting verticals for eVTOL technology. They envision an entire ecosystem which will integrate aerial mobility into existing transportation networks. Last year, Hyundai partnered with the city of Los Angeles and Urban Movement Labs to lay the foundation for a model policy toolkit and vision for engagement with the public sector.

“We have a responsibility to ensure AAM integrates with and augments existing transit options and effectively serves local community needs,” Shin said. “Developing the market — from the vehicle to critical infrastructure networks and public acceptance — takes thoughtful and strategic coordination. Everything needs to align at the same time for AAM to reach its full promise.”

Why it matters: Hyundai spinning off its aerial mobility industry into the United States and taking a conservative go-to-market strategy shows where its priorities lie. The company is strategically allowing other companies to enter first, in order to determine winning approaches by observing initial entrants. This strategy has been used in other industries such as electric ground-based vehicles, where major name brand manufacturers are now starting to release commercial products in emerging markets years after the initial entrants. Expect more news as Supernal pursues certification and takes on the crowding aerial mobility space.

Near Earth Autonomy and L3Harris Technologies announced today that they have successfully demonstrated an unmanned aircraft system (UAS) capable of autonomously delivering life-saving blood and other medical supplies hundreds of miles from operational bases to medics in the field. Whole blood is the ideal fluid for hemorrhagic shock treatment in tactical combat care. The U.S. Army’s Medical Research and Development Command’s (USAMRDC) Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC) sponsored the demonstration to identify ways to save Warfighters’ lives in situations where access to whole blood in the field can be challenging.

The project also addresses the problem of whole blood going unused and wasted by recovering it to blood banks in reusable condition. Near Earth successfully integrated its autonomous flight systems and L3Harris’ FVR-90 hybrid VTOL aircraft to demonstrate multiple delivery scenarios. In one example, the UAS analyzed landing areas using onboard sensors to find a safe, unobstructed location. In other tests, the ground was too cluttered for the vehicle to land, so transport pods were dropped from a low altitude hover or released via parachute. The demonstration took place in Ft. Pickett, VA, in August of 2021.

“When combined with autonomous delivery zone evaluation, vertical takeoff and landing and long-distance flight can transform field supply logistics.” Sanjiv Singh, CEO of Near Earth, said, “This project allowed us to demonstrate the utility of autonomous, safe landing in complex, unstructured environments. It is especially gratifying to speak to end users who can benefit from the life-saving applications that are now possible through this innovative program.”

This research and development initiative was conducted by Near Earth Autonomy and L3Harris and is made possible by a contract that was awarded and administered by the U.S. Army Medical Research & Development Command (USAMRDC) and the Telemedicine & Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC), at Fort Detrick, MD.

Why it’s important: This collaboration effort provides substantiation to EMS and first responder roles for unmanned aerial vehicle systems, and showcases the types of use cases that have impacts on the health and safety of those in the military (which could easily be expanded to include civilians as well). Though the primary application of this technology is military based, early technological advances will eventually permeate to civilian applications as well.

Airspeeder, the company famous for developing ‘flying race cars’ that are single-seater quadcopters inspired by Formula One vehicles, has released footage of two of its prototype aircraft in a remotely piloted drag race. The flight demonstrated the competitive capabilities of these lightweight aircraft, and gave the world a sampling what full-scale Airspeeder races will soon look like.

Airspeeder has been working on its vision for eVTOL races sine 2016, and since then the company has been edging ever closer to conducting the world’s first high-speed, piloted, eVTOL races. Last year, the company unveiled its MK3 Airspeeder racing aircraft, capable of flying at speeds over 90mph (which it did in this race). It uses a 96 kW electric powertrain that gives the MK3 a thrust to weight ratio above two, with the entire vehicle only weighing (220 lb) unmanned, and is controlled by a joystick.

The company Airspeeder, which aims to become the world’s first ‘flying car’ racing series, is built on the idea that “Nothing accelerates technological progress like sporting competition”. According to founders of the team, Airspeeder hopes to use the technology developed in its competitive race series to push forward performance and safety in the entire eVTOL industry, while at the same time using publicity of the races to encourage public acceptance of these new types of vehicles. Founders at Airspeeder believe deeply in the power of electric vertical flight to transform society, and hope that its aircraft and aerial motorsport will give the world a push in that direction.

Watch the unveiling video of the Airspeeder MK3 aircraft from last May below:

Why it’s important: In May of this year, Airspeeder claimed that it would begin remotely piloted, competitive races between teams starting in late 2021. This drag race completed that milestone, and according to the company, manned races will begin starting sometime in 2022. With this drag race event, Airspeeder has shown that it is able to stick to its timeline, and therefore it is becoming more and more likely that Airspeeder next year will become the very first flying race car series in the world.

Source // Airspeeder

Related:

• Airspeeder Initial Flying Car Races Set For Later This Year (May 2021)
• Airspeeder MK3: World’s First Electric Flying Racing Car (February 2021)
• A Trade Study in Endurance and Performance: Airspeeder’s Battery Configuration (December 2020)

eVTOL newcomer, Autoflight, has announced it has completed the first flight of its V1500M four-passenger aircraft. Autoflight was founded five years ago as a spinoff from the consumer drone manufacturer Yuneec, started by Tian Yu. The Shanghai-based company unveiled this latest model in September at the China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai.

“The V1500M is a milestone — not only for AutoFlight but also for the global development of the urban air mobility,” AutoFlight founder and CEO Tian Yu stated in a press release. “Our company is committed to developing safe and reliable passenger eVTOL aircraft and helping to create a better mobility future.”

The V1500 is a fully-electric eVTOL aerial vehicle that can transport up to four passengers and luggage (up to 3,307 lbs) either autonomously or piloted. The carbon fiber fuselage carries ten electric motors and ten propellers that are located above the cabin.

For forward flight, the eVTOL aircraft utilizes its two rear pusher propellers and a fixed-wing, delivering a cruise speed of 200 km/h (124 mph) and a range of 250 km (155 miles).

Following an extensive series of flight tests, Autoflight hopes to obtain its airworthiness certificate and pursue commercial availability by 2024.

The company also boasts 2 other eVTOL models, including the V50 White Shark which is currently in commercial production. This year, Autoflight has completed a successful Series A round of funding in which it topped $100M USD.

Why it matters: China, having both the largest population and greatest population density of any country, has perhaps the greatest opportunity to benefit from aerial mobility. With the successful launch of Autoflight, the V1500M promises to be a serious competitor to other manufacturers in the country like EHang and XPeng HT Aero. With $100M USD in series A funding, Autoflight should have a solid start on completing its flight test campaign and achieving certification. 

SkyDrive Inc. an advanced air mobility solutions company that’s creating flying cars and cargo drones, announced on November 1st that the company’s application for a type certificate for its flying car was accepted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism (MLIT). The approval of this application on October 29, 2021 means that the company has now initiated a type certification project for the aircraft that it aims to commercialize in 2025. SkyDrive is the first flying car developer to reach this stage in Japan.

Related: SkyDrive Inks Partnership with JAXA for Aerodynamic Characteristics Research

Under Japan’s Civil Aeronautics Law, MLIT issues a type certificate to certify that the design, structure, strength, and performance of a newly developed aircraft meet the necessary safety and environmental requirements for each type of aircraft. Certification is only granted after the aircraft had gone through a battery of studies and tests, including strength tests and flight tests. This is the first time that MLIT has accepted an application for a type certificate for a flying car.

Tomohiro Fukuzawa, Chief Executive Officer of SkyDrive Inc commented on the TC acceptance: “SkyDrive and MLIT have been discussing how to safely develop and test this type of aircraft since the Public-Private Council to promote urban air mobility was launched in Japan in 2018 and SkyDrive received permission for the first outdoor test flight of its flying car. We are very pleased that our application for type certification has been accepted and we will continue to work in close partnership with the government and MLIT to complete our development of a wholly safe and reliable flying car. We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to all of those who have supported us in various ways up to this point and we will continue striving to launch a viable flying car business with the assistance of various organizations and companies, including MLIT, in pursuit of our common goal of realizing an air mobility society.”

Why it’s important: The Japanese MLIT’s acceptance of this type certificate application is indication that Japan continues to invest in advanced aerial mobility projects, and also supports the development of personal aerial vehicle (PAV)’s for use in the future. Continue to monitor the progress of companies such as SkyDrive as they further refine their PAV technology that will ultimately (and likely) end up on larger prototypes that can carry multiple people.