The Latest Advanced Air Mobility News

eVTOLs and Flying Cars Not Quite Cleared for Takeoff

“Ground control to Major Tom. Ground control to Major Tom.” (David Bowie flashback.) According to its latest reporting, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is managing roughly 16.1 million flights annually, averaging about 44,000 flights daily. That’s about 5,400 flights at any given moment. The advent of urban air mobility (AKA advanced air mobility) is…

Vertical Aerospace Hires Tim Williams as Chief Engineer

Tim Williams was at year 33 with Rolls-Royce—the last 10 as a Chief Engineer—when he was contacted by a recruiter. Calling the world’s second-largest maker of aircraft engines “a superb company to work for,” he thought he’d dispatch the recruiter by saying the only thing that could tempt him was “a much bigger challenge.” And…

NASA Series to Lead the Way in Making eVTOLs a Reality in the US

Just a few years ago, as people in the aviation field discussed how eVTOLs (called flying cars in popular culture) might be integrated into existing airspace, the term urban air mobility (UAM) came into being. Coining it that made sense. After all, a Jetson-like cityscape is what many people think of when they imagine vertical…

Capital Idea: NEXA Capital Gives UAM Lift and Keeps It Grounded

Step 1: Get a degree in aeronautics from MIT. Step 2: Go into finance. Huh? Let’s just say Michael Dyment took an unorthodox flight path out of college but actually ended up merging his love for aviation with his affinity for aviation innovation. The result is NEXA Capital, which Dyment founded in 2007, a boutique…

NASA Working on Road Rules – for the Sky

“Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird. It’s a plane.” If this were the 1950s, the next line (from the original TV show) would be, “It’s Superman!” But, if they were to remake the show in 2020, the opening dialogue might be slightly different: Man: Look. Up in the sky. It’s a plane. Woman:…

A Few Good Men – and a Fleet of eVTOLs

The US Marine Corps is adopting a Jetsons-style approach to warfare. Often, it’s the military that leads technological innovation. The World Wide Web we know today as the Internet originated with the US Military’s Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET). It sent its first message in 1983. Sometimes, it works the other way around. Such…

Transformative Vertical Flight 2020 Conference January 2020 in San Jose, CA

Recent market studies commissioned by NASA and several financial investment and analysis companies have caused major players in the mainstream aerospace industry to reverse course on their earlier dismissive attitudes about the eVTOL sector when it was first emerging in 2011-2016. The research suggests that as many as 100,000 eVTOL aircraft will be in commercial…

Russians Join Quest for Flying Cars

Two Russia-based aircraft companies, Ilyushin and Sukhoi, are taking part in a state-run project called AeroNet to launch an air taxi by 2025. Scientists in Novosibirsk, Siberia’s largest city, are also actively engaged in the development of flying cars, according to the Russian Foundation for Advanced Research Projects. A laboratory dedicated to the project has…

US Air Force Prepares to Take Off with Flying Cars

F15 Eagle. F-22 Raptor. F-16 Fighting Falcon. Terrafugia? Pop.Up? The US Air Force has announced plans to develop its own flying car to add to its fleet of aircraft. Called Agility Prime, Dr. Will Roper, assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, technology and logistics, explained: “It was a low-hanging opportunity to broaden the…

Boeing Partners with Kitty Hawk Flying Taxi

With an eye on keeping future airspace safe for urban air mobility—including flying taxis—Boeing and Kitty Hawk Corporation have joined forces. The companies recently announced the partnership between Kitty Hawk’s Cora division and Boeing. Google co-founder Larry Page owns Kitty Hawk, whose claim to fame is Cora. Hundreds of tests of this autonomous, two-seat electric…

Buzz - The Beevtol icon. Cartoon bumblebee on a yellow background.