Month: March 2023

Global aerospace and defense industry leader Lockheed Martin has announced a major investment in Regent, developer of an electric ground-effect aircraft that will use distributed electric propulsion to travel overseas. The investment by Lockheed will help expedite the development of Regent’s seagliders for defense applications. Regent’s seaglider seeks to combine the high speed of an airplane with the low operating...

Read More

Ionblox, a high-performance lithium-ion cell company based in California, has announced that it has closed a $24 million Series B investment round led by German eVTOL startup Lilium, with participation from Applied Ventures, LLC, and Catalus Capital. The funds will be used to scale up Ionblox’s operations and manufacturing capabilities, as well as to invest in expanding the company’s team...

Read More

Archer has completed another round of wind tunnel testing at the RUAG Large Subsonic Wind Tunnel in Emmen, Switzerland. The six-week campaign collected data to validate Midnight’s aerodynamic models, load predictions, performance, stability/control characteristics. The data will be used to validate against full-scale results in Archer’s upcoming flight test program of its ‘Midnight’ eVTOL. DeHarde, a German based model creator,...

Read More

LYTE reveals 40-seat hybrid eVTOL

30 March 2023 || 3 min read

LYTE Aviation, a new advanced air mobility innovator, has just revealed its 40-seat hybrid eVTOL SkyBus and SkyTruck programs.  Its LA-44 SkyBus and complementary SkyTruck cargo variant are vertical take-off and landing vehicles – designed to be five times more fuel efficient than current helicopters and support a 4.5 tonne payload, by employing hybrid-electric propulsion technology. “The use of turbine engines...

Read More

Intel confirmed today that they intend to join Airspeeder as their new Official Intelligence Partner in a strategic sponsorship agreement to provide end-to-end systems support and insights to help power the world’s first flying electric car racing series. The announcement coincides with public unveiling of the new Mk4 Airspeeder at Adelaide’s Motorsport Festival and will bring the global tech giant’s...

Read More

Archer Aviation has announced a new upcoming route in partnership with United Airlines connecting downtown Chicago to O’Hare International Airport (ORD). The Chicago-based airline has made headlines over the past few years for its investment in eVTOL aerial mobility, most notably for its $1B USD order for 200 Archer eVTOL aircraft with deliveries starting as early as 2024. The 10-minute...

Read More

The United Arab Emirates has just granted the United Parcel Service (UPS) a license to test new cargo aircraft provided by the eVTOL manufacturer BETA. BETA recently announced its intentions to Focus on Electric Aircraft Certification, an effort which relies on prioritizing the development of its electric conventional takeoff and landing aircraft (eCTOL). When UPS starts deploying and testing BETA’s...

Read More

Zeva Aero Launches New eVTOL Line

23 March 2023 || 3 min read

Zeva Aero, the previous creator of a disc-shaped personal eVTOL aircraft, has announced that it is now developing an aircraft on a pre-exisiting airframe in order to achieve the most efficient path to commercialization. Zeva’s new aircraft, named the Argon, is based on a traditional fixed-wing Cessna 162 Skycatcher airframe. To convert the airframe to an eVTOL, Zeva will add...

Read More

Wingcopter, a German manufacturer and operator of delivery drones, has announced a new partnership with ZAL Center of Applied Aeronautical Research GmbH to develop a sustainable, hydrogen-based propulsion system for its delivery drones. The goal is to refit the Wingcopter 198, which currently runs on battery power, to fly even more efficiently and with longer range, while still remaining emission-free....

Read More

Overair Announces Tom Whayne as New CFO

21 March 2023 || 3 min read

eVTOL development company Overair announced today the appointment of Tom Whayne as chief financial officer (CFO). As CFO, Whayne will oversee all financial operations and provide strategic guidance to the company as it continues its path toward commercialization. Whayne joins OverAir having previously served as chief financial officer of OneWeb, where he led the raise of more than $3 billion of capital...

Read More

ZeroAvia has announced that it achieved record-breaking performance in testing of its High Temperature Proton Exchange Membrane (HTPEM) systems. Above: Zero Avia’s 19-seat hydrogen fuel cell aircraft Early testing of the pressurized 20kW HTPEM stack power module in ZeroAvia’s UK R&D location has demonstrated a record 2.5 kW/kg specific power at the cell level, paving the way for 3+ kW/kg system...

Read More

Beta Technologies announced recently that they will enhance their focus on the development and certification of a conventional configuration electric aircraft. Beta is labeling the configuration as an eCTOL aircraft (electric conventional takeoff/landing). The company has been flight testing a conventional fixed-wing version of its eVTOL prototype, which will now become the company’s certification candidate. The aircraft, called CX300, will...

Read More

SkyDrive, a Japanese eVTOL developer, has announced a partnership with VPorts to establish the world’s first Advanced Aerial Mobility Integrator World Center in Dubai. Taking up 37,000 square meters, the Center will be an operations control hub for Advanced Air Mobility Aircraft in Dubai. Above: Concept Vertiport by SkyDrive VPorts Air Traffic Management Inc. (“VPorts”), is a global leader in...

Read More

Adacel Technologies, an air traffic management and ATC simulation and training systems company, announced last week their Aurora ATM system was delivered to Seychelles Civil Aviation Authority (SCAA) and has successfully passed the Site Acceptance Testing. Seychelles’ new Aurora ATM system, developed to modernize SCAA’s air traffic management system, will enhance ATM service delivery by providing surveillance control with space-...

Read More

Sikorsky has announced plans to build a full scale, autonomous, hybrid-electric technology demonstrator to research commercial and military eVTOL missions. The prototype is dubbed under the program name HEX and will feature a gross weight of more than 7,000 pounds. The uncrewed aircraft will act as a test bed for evaluation of eVTOL aircraft design and propulsion systems. The project...

Read More