Honeywell and Vertical Aerospace Sign MoU Agreement

Honeywell has signed an agreement with yet another urban air mobility company. This time, it’s with the UK’s Vertical Aerospace, which has an eVTOL currently in flight testing.

The Vertical Aerospace eVTOL prototype, which entered into flight testing in September of last year

The Vertical Aerospace eVTOL has one of the sleekest designs on the market, comparable to the Bell Nexus Air Taxi or the Lilium Jet. Based out of the United Kingdom, Vertical Aerospace completed autonomous flight tests of its two seater prototype last September. Watch the full test flight here. 

A top-down view of the Vertical Aerospace eVTOL

Earlier this week, the tech giant Honeywell announced that it has signed a ‘memorium of understanding’ agreement with Vertical Aerospace. According to the agreement, Vertical Aerospace intends to integrate Honeywell’s avionics, navigation, fly-by-wire and advanced technologies into future Vertical Aerospace vehicles. Although the images seen here are only of a two passenger prototype, Vertical Aerospace plans to build a version that can seat up to four passengers.

The agreement with Vertical Aerospace is Honeywell’s third agreement with an urban air mobility company. Honeywell signed with Pipistrel in January and Volocopter in April. Pipistrel is currently one of the named companies working with Uber Elevate, and Volocopter plans to complete demonstration flights in Singapore in late 2019.

The Volocopter, one of Honeywell’s other UAM partnerships.

Said Honeywell Aerospace Electronic Solutions President Carl Esposito: “Honeywell’s expertise in integrated avionics, systems integration, certification and manufacturing, combined with Vertical Aerospace’s capabilities in developing eVTOL vehicles, will spur the advancement of urban air mobility.”

He also mentioned Honeywell’s ability to assist Vertical Aerospace with the aircraft certification process: “Through years of working with the US Federal Aviation Administration and the European Aviation Safety Agency, Honeywell is well equipped to help Vertical Aerospace navigate the civil airspace landscape and develop their vehicles.”

Notably, Honeywell also plans on developing an electric engine specifically for urban air mobility. Learn more about the upcoming electric engine here.

Honeywell’s HTS900 engine, planned for an urban air mobility adaptation

Why it’s important: Honeywell is beginning to establish itself as an expert in UAM avionics technology. While not many companies have entered this space yet, Honeywell has great depth of experience in advanced aviation tech, and is an excellent candidate to provide reliable solutions for the industry. By becoming one of the first major suppliers for UAM, Honeywell’s expertise will only grow in momentum and reputation.

Sources // Vertical Aerospace, Honeywell, Aerospace Technology

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