All posts by Ross Piscoran

Reliable Robotics has completed a series of flight tests in partnership with NASA to aid the FAA in the use of primary surveillance radar (PSR) data. The tests were conducted on Reliable’s modified Cessna Grand Caravan at Travis Air Force Base and successfully demonstrated an autonomous taxi, takeoff, and landing. Reliable is currently developing an FAA STC for its remote...

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Merlin has achieved first stage of involvement (SOI 1) with the Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand and has obtained an approved Plan for Software Aspects of Certification (PSAC). The Boston-headquartered company is currently developing autonomous fixed-wing aircraft with its commercial offering Merlin Pilot. Merlin is one of the only takeoff to touchdown automation software suites available to retrofit on...

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Last week, Joby Aviation posted its Q1 earnings showing a strong cash reserve of $978M USD, not including an additional $180M USD from Baillie Gifford, a Scottish investment firm, with offices in New York and London. These additional funds are expected to be used to accelerate Joby’s early production, enabling the business to capitalize on near-term revenue opportunities without impacting...

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The FAA has released V2.0 of its Concept of Operations for the aerial mobility sector following on the documents initial release in 2020 with feedback incorporated from various stakeholders in the space. According to the release, “The UAM ConOps Version 2.0 is an iterative progression of work in the development of the concept that will be continued to mature through...

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Joby has announced in a press release today it has signed a long-term agreement with Toyota Motor Corporation to supply key powertrain and actuation components for the production of the the company’s eVTOL production model. The agreement builds on the long-standing partnership between Joby and Toyota, which has seen the two companies collaborate on a wide variety of projects to...

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MGI Engineering Launches Cargo eVTOL Vision

21 April 2023 || 5 min read

Specialist consultancy company MGI Engineering has launched its a program to develop and manufacture a cargo eVTOL. MGI CEO and Founder Mike Gascoyne officially unveiled its fully functional technology demonstrator at the eVTOL Insights’ London Conference on Wednesday 19th April 2023. MGI and Gascoyne are applying Formula 1 development philosophies and mindset to the cargo eVTOL market. “Lightweight composite structures...

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Japanese-based eVTOL maker, SkyDrive, this week announced it has received its first order from a private party of its SD-05 two-seat eVTOL. The SD-05 has already received numerous orders from commercial operators since its unveiling last year, but the first order comes from long-time SkyDrive investor, Kotaro Chiba. Chiba has invested in SkyDrive since 2018 and is the co-founder and...

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Volocopter has announced this week the opening of its production facilities in Bruchsal, Germany. The facility includes final assembly lines and area on the airfield to conduct flight tests and pre-delivery quality checks. Volocopter stated in a press release that they have obtained regulatory approvals to produce up to 50 VoloCity aircraft each year. Volocopter has held a production certificate...

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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,...

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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...

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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...

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Australian based AMSL Aero announced in a press release this week that it has completed first flight of its Vertiia eVTOL aircraft. The Vertiia completed its tethered hover by remote control near Wellington in the Central West of the state in accordance with Civil Aviation Safety Authority regulations. The maiden test flight is a significant milestone for the AMSL Aero,...

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EHang Completes First Passenger Carrying Flight

19 February 2023 || 3 min read

EHang has reached another milestone in development of its EH216 eVTOL announcing this week they have completed a fully autonomous flight with passengers on board. The flight was conducted along Tanoura Beach in Oita, Japan under the approval of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism of Japan. Onboard were two passengers and no pilot as the EH216 completed...

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Joby this week announced it has completed the second of five stages required by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to certify its eVTOL aircraft for commercial passenger use. In the second stage of the type certification process, a company identifies the ways in which it will demonstrate it has met the regulatory intent of the safety rules (“Means of Compliance”)...

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AIR and the International SeaKeepers Society have partnered on the use of eVTOL technologies for marine applications. AIR is an Israeli eVTOL maker with a focus on owner-operator aerial mobility. The company launched the AIR ONE at the Kentucky Derby last May and has already accumulated 300 pre-orders. The production model is capable of carrying two passengers or a 250kg...

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