Category: Vehicles/Manufactures

After years of intensive research and several successful award-winning electric aircraft models developed since 2007, Pipistrel has achieved a breakthrough feat in aviation history, having type certified the battery powered Velis Electro. Working in tight collaboration with the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, whose engagement was essential to reaching this unprecedented milestone, Pipistrel demonstrated that its new Velis Electro achieves the highest levels of safety.

Pipistrel has received an EASA type certificate for its Velis Electro aircraft.

Conceived as a fundamental part of the ‘Velis Training System’, the Velis Electro was designed to be simple to operate and maintain, without compromising safety. Employing Pipistrel’s type certified electric engine, the Velis Electro delivers power instantly and without hesitation – using a simplified user interface in a cockpit that maintains the same look-and-feel of its conventionally powered siblings. The reduced number of moving parts dramatically decreases maintenance costs and the risk of malfunctions is further minimized thanks to its built-in continuous health-monitoring system.

This enhanced reliability allows the Velis Electro to have more than double the lifespan of power-train elements in comparison to the previous generation of electric aircraft. The revolutionary power train is entirely liquid-cooled, including the batteries, and demonstrated the ability to withstand faults, battery thermal runaway events, and crash loads as part of the certification process. The overall result of all these breakthrough innovations is a drastic reduction in the operating costs, significantly contributing to the affordability of pilot training.

“The type certification of the Pipistrel Velis Electro is the first step towards the commercial use of electric aircraft, which is needed to make emission-free aviation feasible. It is considerably quieter than other airplanes and produces no combustion gases at all,” said Mr Ivo Boscarol, founder and CEO of Pipistrel Aircraft. “It confirms and provides optimism, also to other electric aircraft designers, that the Type Certificate of electric engines and airplanes is possible. The engine, which Pipistrel type certified separately, is also available to other aircraft OEMs. For Pipistrel, this achievement injects additional motivation for the future eVTOL and multi-seat hydrogen-powered projects. Pipistrel is especially thankful to all our customers for their confidence in our products, which allows us to continue developing these innovative aircraft,” he added.

Ivo Boscarol, Founder and CEO of Pipistrel

Mr Dominique Roland, Head of the General Aviation Department at EASA, expressed: “For EASA, the type certification of this aircraft marks a significant dual milestone: on 18th of May 2020 we type certified its engine as the first electric engine – now we have followed up with the first type certification of a plane flying that engine. This was a truly ground-breaking project which has yielded many learnings for the future certification of electric engines and aircraft, undoubtedly a growth area in coming years in line with the aims of environmental protection.

“It should also be noted that this innovative product was, despite the many challenging aspects, certified in less than 3 years, showing the excellent work performed by Pipistrel and the EASA teams. Finally, it is worth mentioning that the certification team was composed of EASA staff, but included experts from the Swiss and French authorities, in order to prepare and facilitate the entry into service of the Velis Electro in these two countries.”

Mr Paolo Romagnolli, Head of Engineering at Pipistrel, highlighted the technical excellence: “The Velis Electro project has been one of those engineering challenges we like at Pipistrel. EASA Type Certificate is an uncompromised affirmation of the safety of the design. Having achieved this with a relatively small team is proof that young, talented, and motivated professionals can bring innovation into reality. Completing the work nobody else has ever done before makes us all very proud of being members of this engineering team.”

Why it matters: The Pipistrel Velis Electro is the world’s first fully electric airplane ever to receive type certification from EASA. The two-seater, intended primarily for pilot training, is a game-changing aircraft in terms of technological innovations and cost-efficiency. Its EASA certification paves the way for the future of environmentally sustainable, emission-free aviation, particularly in the eVTOL space.

Source: Pipistrel Press Release

Airflow, a company founded in 2019 by five former members of the Airbus Vahana Project, just announced its upcoming eSTOL – an electric aircraft capable of taking off and landing within remarkably short runways.

Rendering of the upcoming Airflow eSTOL.

STOLs (Short Take-Off and Landing) aircraft have been around for many years; typically being used to access remote areas such as clearings in forests or other rural areas where full runways may not be available. Their ability to take off and land quickly, often within 150-300ft, makes them extremely versatile.

A traditional STOL aircraft, typically used for accessing remote areas without large runways.

Members from the Airflow team believe that many of the cargo transportation goals of the UAM (Urban Air Mobility) movement could be accomplished by electric STOLs at around one third the operating cost. Due to the growing diversity of desired products and destinations that is coming with the rapid growth of ‘same-day’ e-commerce, there is becoming a growing need for middle-mile transportation that can transport items directly between warehouses quickly, without using traditional airports. Airflow believes it can meet this need through a combination of its proprietary aircraft and its accompanying logistics service for sellers of e-commerce products. Other use cases include rural delivery, medical supplies to remote areas, disaster relief, and military applications.

A diagram showing how cargo is traditionally moved between Distribution Centers (via semi-truck) versus how they will move with Airflow. Airflow eSTOLS will be 4X as fast as semi trucks at 1/3 the price of eVTOLs.

According to Marc Ausman, Founder & CEO of Airflow:

“The demand for same-day e-commerce continues to rise, and we’re building a new low-cost aerial capability to enable that growth. Our approach from the beginning is to focus on a simple aircraft design with well-defined new technology.”

Airflow’s first aircraft features a distributed electric motor propulsion system, a single-pilot set-up with automated pilot assistance, 250 miles of hybrid-electric range, 500lbs of cargo capacity, and an impressive take-off and landing distance of only 150 feet. The eSTOL is simple fixed-wing aircraft, which Airflow hopes will yield a quicker path through certification and development. The team believes that both the certification and development process combined will cost around $200 million USD, vs around a $700 Million price tag for eVTOLs with similar regional air mobility capabilities. Production is expected to begin on the aircraft in 2025.

In addition to their work together at the Airbus Vahana project, Airflow’s founders also held previous experience at companies like Eclipse Aviation, Northrop Grumman, Airware, Scaled Composites, and even Uber Elevate.

The Airbus Vahana Project, where the five founders of Airflow worked previously.

Why it’s important: The leaders of Airflow come from a depth of experience not just in aviation, but in the newly formed world of urban aerial mobility. Together, they have spotted a niche in this new industry (for middle-mile cargo transport) where capital could be deployed more efficiently through the use of simpler technologies. The new Airflow eSTOL, together with its accompanying logistics service, has extremely high potential in the growing short-distance transportation industry.

Kitty Hawk has announced this week it is ending its Flyer program to focus on its heavier prototype, Heaviside launched last year. This update is to no surprise as the bulk of the eVTOL/aerial mobility market has shifted from the inception of the Flyer to larger vehicles with the ability to carry multiple passengers. Heaviside fits the bill with a top speed of 180 mph and a range of 100 miles.

Kitty Hawk’s Flyer frame in 2015.

“Today, we are winding down the Flyer project,” Kitty Hawk CEO Sebastian Thrun and Flyer President Alex Roetter wrote in a blog announcement. “We have learned what we needed from it—things like vehicle design and testing, manufacturing aircraft, and most of all, how humans would experience eVTOL. We are proud to have built the first electrically-powered VTOL aircraft in the world flown by non-pilots.”

It should be noted, the incredible accomplishments of Kitty Hawk’s Flyer program were important in developing a deep understanding and strategy for bringing a commercial eVTOL vehicle to market. During its history, Kitty Hawk built over 111 prototypes and conducted in excess of 25,000 test flights.

In its blog post detailing the sunset of the Flyer program, Thrun and Roetter say that, with the closing of Flyer, they are “doubling down” on Heaviside. Further, Kitty Hawk and Boeing have been working for the past year on a strategic partnership centered on another prototype design dubbed Cora, a semi-autonomous two-seat aircraft (now renamed Wisk).

Why it matters: With an impressive logbook of flight tests completed and technical understanding of developing eVTOL platforms, Kitty Hawk is well positioned to get their Heaviside prototype into flight test with a strong configuration from the start. With backing from the likes of Google co-founder, Larry Page, as well as their Silicon Valley roots, Kitty Hawk promises to be a continued voice in the aerial mobility space, as they embark on a new chapter for the company.

Since February of 2014, Bye Aerospace has been developing an all-electric trainer aircraft, designed to reduce the fuel costs of training new pilots. Having already certified its aircraft through the FAA’s FAR 23 rules, Bye Aerospace will be releasing two models; the 2-seater eFlyer 2 and the 4-seater eFlyer 4. Combined, orders for these aircraft now total over 330.

As of today (June 2nd), Bye Aerospace announced that it is nearing completion of the eFlyer 2 critical design phase. This final part of this design phase is meant to clear the aircraft’s design to proceed into fabrication, demonstration and test. The CDR (critical design review) being conducted will also ensure that the aircraft meets the FAA 14 CFR 23 Amendment 64 certification standards and performance requirements within the eFlyer 2 cost, schedule and safety criteria. Once these reviews are completed, Bye Aerospace will begin delivering electric aircraft to customers.

“I’m grateful to our remarkable team of engineers, designated engineering representatives, our development partners and suppliers for their support in the engineering progress of eFlyer 2,” said George E. Bye, CEO of Bye Aerospace.  “This important upcoming aviation industry milestone is a reflection of the team’s incredible dedication and hard work.” Bye Aerospace reached this latest milestone while working from home due to concerns over the Coronavirus pandemic, indicating the high-functioning capabilities of its engineering and executive teams.

Notably, Bye Aerospace is certainly not the first company to begin putting functional electric aircraft into the skies. Just this week, MagniX and AeroTEC flew the world’s largest all-electric aircraft, a converted Cessna Grand Caravan 208B. Other companies like eViation, Ampaire, Voltaero and more have all begun creating electric aircraft that may soon enter operation.

Other electric aircraft: magniX (top left), eViation Alice (top right), Ampaire EEL (bottom left), Voltaero Cassio (bottom right).

Why it’s important: Although Bye Aerospace is not in the business of developing eVTOLs, its progress into attaining FAA certification for electric aircraft, and its efforts to put these aircraft into useful operation, paves the way for electric flight technologies utilized by eVTOLs. Putting certified electric aircraft into use is no small feat, and building the aerial mobility industry will likely happen incrementally, starting with products like the eFlyer.

Related:

• Environmental & Women’s Activist Cassie Lee Joins Bye Aerospace Board
• magniX and AeroTEC Successfully Fly the World’s Largest All-Electric Aircraft
• VoltAero Finalizes Production Configuration for Cassio

Lilium looks to resume flight tests in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic as restrictions on business operations are eased around the world. The German-based company has been working from home for the past two months and has been looking for ways to resume operations while maintaining social distancing among other preventative measures. Lilium currently expects flight testing to begin in “a few months.”

Over the past several months, Lilium has been producing its second technology demonstrator aircraft, which will incorporate some design changes from the first prototype flown in 2019, fly at faster speeds, and be able to transition from vertical lift-off to fixed-wing cruise flight. Lilium aims to have the model fully certified by 2025. This latest edition of the Lilium Jet can seat up to five passengers.

In a recent presentation, Lilium’s Chief Program Officer Yves Yemsi demonstrated the company’s implementation of new management processes, including stage gate reviews at its company and across the supply chain. This concept has been successfully used elsewhere in the aerospace industry in tracking the overall technological readiness of a flight vehicle and its systems at organizations like NASA, Boeing, Airbus, and more. “We don’t want to lose quality at any stage so we are putting controls in place at all levels,” explained Yemsi, who formerly held a senior quality and program role with Airbus.

Why it matters: Earlier this year, Lilium completed another round of funding, generating over $240M bringing its fundraising total to $340M. The company has equipped itself with more than 450 employees, 35 of which hold PhDs, and many of which come from prestigious aerospace companies. Alongside its German competitor, Volocopter, the company has amassed an impressive amount of capital and talent. With restrictions easing around the world in light of COVID-19, TransportUP expects to see Lilium back in the spotlight as it looks to resume flight testing.

Read more news about Lilium here.

About a year ago, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) announced its plans to publish certification standards for electric and hybrid VTOL aircraft, aimed at those designed for urban environments such as Lilium, Volocopter, and Vertical Aerospace‘s eVTOLs. These standards have been under review by public and private stakeholders, as well as EASA itself. Yesterday, on May 25th, EASA moved one major step closer to the full set of standards Europe will need to allow air taxis into commercial use.

EASA standards for eVTOLs have been moving forward in sync with the development of eVTOL aircraft by European companies. The latest certification standards release, which is the third, focuses on structural design, flight load conditions, crashworthiness, capability after bird impact, design of fly-by-wire systems, safety assessment process, lightning protection and minimum handling qualities rating. Previous iterations included initial prototyping standards, followed by certification requirements for electric and/or hybrid propulsion systems.

Examples of eVTOL aircraft the latest EASA standards will apply to: Vertical Aerospace Seraph (left), The Lilium Jet (middle), and the Volocopter Velocity (right).

According to the latest news from EASA, “These subjects (certification standards) were identified and discussed with industry members and representatives from other aviation authorities worldwide. The requirements and guidance cater for a wide variety of flying vehicle architectures and enable innovative designs. The scope for the guidance remains “person-carrying small VTOL aircraft with 3 or more lift/thrust units used to generate powered lift and control”. Essentially, this means that through the last year, EASA has been developing its documentation to become more and more specific, consulting business leaders, government officials, and public stakeholders at every turn. Over the next few months, the latest set of standards will undergo review by all these stakeholders, and the next package of ‘guidance material’ will be presented during the 2020 EASA Rotorcraft and VTOL Symposium scheduled November 10 – 12, 2020.

Why it’s important:  The publishing of this next set of documents represents a major milestone for aerial mobility in Europe. EASA (the European Aviation Safety Agency), was one of the first global governments to begin work on regulation standards in October of 2018, and has been steadily making progress ever since. With its consistency in standards development, Europe is leading the charge in bringing aerial mobility to reality.

Read the full set of revised certification standards here.

Related:

• • How EASA Proposes to Approach eVTOL Certification
  • Airbus and EASA Sign MOC on Development of VTOL Aircraft
  • Volocopter to Receive EASA’s Design Organization Approval

Wincopter was announced as one of nine winners of the German smartdevelopmenthack hackathon, and event that was sponsored by the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The BMZ ” is calling for innovative digital solutions to tackle the challenges caused by the coronavirus outbreak in low- and middle-income countries”

Under the patronage of the BMZ together with “Team Europe” partners from the EU Commission, other EU member states, tech-companies and civil society, the hackathon was included as a portion of the upcoming German Council Presidency.

Wingcopter emerged as one of nine winning teams of the hackathon, and their video pitch can be viewed here:

From the hackathon’s website:

“The drone solution ensures an efficient health supply chain in remote areas and moreover maps pre- and post-COVID-19 impacts. The project will establish a “multi-purpose” drone network with local graduates to enter professions such as pilots, project managers and safety and maintenance workers. This solution does not happen in isolation but in an innovative ecosystem with the necessary legal and governmental infrastructure to support it.”

Wingcopter created an approach to combating the longer lasting effects of COVID-19 by establishing societal frameworks for infrastructural implementation – going beyond the requirements for physical infrastructure, but considering how the people portions of the business were going to operate.

Wingcopter’s methodology has a potential for use amongst the aerial mobility industry, as the transportation of people will, in a large regard, rely on that same approach of implementation for societal frameworks: the people side of the operation and the industry are just as crucial as the hardware and engineering themselves. One of the aerial mobility industry’s core competencies will be to transport many people daily, safely, over congested and highly populated urban areas. Accordingly, passenger approval, comfort, and confidence in the service that they’ll be utilizing on a day to day basis is paramount to only the safety of the aircraft operations themselves.

Why it’s important: Wingcopter, and the board who judged Wingcopter’s submission to the smartdevelopmenthack event, both placed substantial value in the human centered approach for drone aid to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 in Africa. The Aerial Mobility Industry should also follow suit in appreciating the value of such approaches.

Source // smartDevelopmentHack

Archer has announced today plans to bring an eVTOL aircraft to market, the first major project announcement since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Founded by Brett Adcock and Adam Goldstein, the California-based company draws on technical prowess from the likes of Wisk, Airbus, Joby Aviation, and NASA currently sporting a team in excess of 40 engineers. The duo noticed a business need for aerial mobility to alleviate congestion in urban areas and are committed to delivering a sustainable and efficient vehicle in the coming years. Further, the company already has investors including Walmart eCommerce CEO Marc Lore.

Archer’s eVTOL prototype, computer rendering.

Development of Archer’s prototype is in its infancy, but the company plans to be able to carry four passengers at 150 mph up to 60 miles. It plans to certify the vehicle under EASA’s new special condition rules for eVTOL aircraft. Early concepts, show a six propeller configuration on a fixed wing and a V-shaped tail. “We are still evaluating different concepts and the architecture, including lift plus cruise and vectored thrust,” said Adcock. “We’re looking at what part of the battery capacity is accessible for cruise, and the need to negotiate around emergency power reserves and trying to design around the worst possible operating conditions.”

Archer predicts it will need in excess of $1B USD to get its vehicle into commercial service, not yet being able to offer a timeline for development and certification. The company plans to seek additional strategic investors to meet this goal, but did not disclose other significant investors besides Mr. Lore.

Archer’s founders Brett Adcock and Adam Goldstein.

Why it matters: Archer joins a quickly crowding space of eVTOL manufacturers dreaming of a future with aerial mobility shifting the paradigm in how we travel in urban areas. The founders have significant entrepreneurial experience and seem to have been able to poach talent from reputable firms in the industry. Moreover, this is the first announcement of a new prototype since the COVID-19 pandemic began. This signals continued interest in the industry, but the pandemic will undoubtedly cause roadblocks and developmental delays to manufacturers’ sky-high expectations.

EHang, the Chinese company behind the EHang 216 AAV (autonomous aerial vehicle) recently announced that it will build an autonomously-operating aerial vehicle port in the city of Hezhou, China.

EHang’s “E-port” is already under construction

The 2,500-square-meter “E-port” terminal building will feature a first-floor reception hall, second-floor passenger waiting area and third-floor departure/arrival zone with four landing pads located on the roof. The port, along with a planned delivery of 20 EHang 216 AAVs, is expected to initially be used for air tourism operations.

This announcement is part of EHang’s larger entry into the mobility market of urban China, which recently included a partnership with LN Holdings Garden Hotel in Guangzhou. The company has conducted over two thousand flight tests of its aircraft, is prepared for large-scale manufacturing, and has already entered partnerships with several cities and countries worldwide including Seville, Spain, and the Norway Civil Aviation Authority. These locations, like the newly
added city of Hezhou, initially plan to use EHang aircraft for air tourism
and then eventually transition to everyday travel.

Said EHang founder Huazhi Hu :“As we progress, we intend to create more commercial applications for EHang AAVs, such as aerial sightseeing that can uniquely merge modern culture and tourism. We also welcome more local partners to join us and embrace the opportunity to a provide safe, autonomous, and green approach to travel and sightseeing.”

The EHang 216 itself flies completely autonomously, with air traffic management done by a control center on the ground.  Watch the video below for an in-depth explanation of the E-port design:

Why it’s important: Although many companies have begun putting forth urban Vertiport designs, EHang is the first to plan one that will be completely autonomous. While small-scale operations may not make autonomy unnecessary for now, the large scale nature of future operations planned by EHang will require it. Although EHang has yet to enter service or operation in the U.S, it has already made agreements with several areas internationally, including Spain and Norway as well as China. With this latest announcement, as well as its progress into aircraft delivery and operation, EHang may very well have put itself in the lead for global aerial mobility solutions.

Related:

• EHang to Build the World’s First UAM Hotel
• EHang Enters Agreement with Seville, Spain to Begin Urban Air Mobility Program
• EHang Obtains Operational Permit from Civil Aviation Authority of Norway

Hyundai Motors Group has stood up a Smart Mobility display at their HMG headquarters to showcase the next generation of transportation innovations. Featured predominantly, front and center of this display was an aerial mobility aircraft prototype, flying over the model scape.

Visitors take in the Hyundai Smart Mobility Display. Image // Hyundai

This display represents Hyundai’s financial commitment to the aerial mobility industry and to the application of the technologies developed through their extensive research and development efforts toward electrified and autonomous transportation. The display will remain for roughly another month, until mid June, after which it’ll be toured at various events across the glove. Hyundai appointed their current Executive Vice President of the Urban Air Mobility Division, Dr. Jaiwon Shin to his post last September.

Hyundai has allocated the vehicle and hub model to their future transportation approach, dubbing the vehicles that transport persons as PBV’s (Purpose Built Vehicles) and the locations at which many of these interfaces occur as Hubs. Their fundamental approach asserts that the correct proportion of hubs and passenger carrying capacity of PBV’s will enable for a reduction in congestion and lowered emissions to boot. When combined with UAM efforts, the three facets of this mobility plan cover the needs of short (>2 miles), medium (2-10 miles), and medium-long (10-50 miles) in range trips that are common among urban areas.

Why it’s important: Hyundai’s establishment as a massive powerhouse amongst the competitive global auto making market allow the company to make large commitments of their R&D dollars for application to emerging technologies that may require 10-20 years to reach large scale commercial deployment. However, this long-tail investment is growing in levels of commonality among other next generation transportation systems as the foundational technologies that allow for autonomous, on demand transportation continue to mature. Some examples include electric motors, see and avoid technology and coding, flight computers or driving guidance computers, and composite fabrication technology are common to the aircraft and vehicles of tomorrow.

Source // Hyundai Motor Group, Autocar Professional