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PAL-V Achieves EU’s Roadworthy Certification for Its Flying Car
You have to crawl before you walk. And, apparently, you have to drive before you fly. PAL-V, a Raamsdonksveer, Netherlands-based developer of what it hopes will be among the world’s first flying cars (if not the first), obtained approval from the European Union to drive its vehicle on European roads. Sporting license plate J-7 71-PT,…
Advanced Air Mobility, Canadian Style
Canadian Air Mobility and the Canadian Air Mobility Consortium Make Flight Plans
Canadians have a reputation . . . for being polite, bilingual, sort of British, sort of French, and perhaps most famously, for not being Americans. So, it should come as no surprise that their approach to urban air mobility is unique. They’re among those calling it advanced air mobility (AAM), but one wonders how long…
AFWERX Shifts UAM Initiative Into High Gear
AFWERX, the U.S. Air Force unit that fosters innovation and connections between private industry, academia, and the military, is recommending more than 250 proposals it received in response to its X20D Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR), Open Topic solicitation regarding its “flying car” subject. The group is on track to be “the largest single cohort…
EASA Sets Ground Rules for EU-wide Drone Registration Data Sharing
The European Union’s (EU) 27 member nations now have a framework (EU) 2019/947) that will allow drone operators to register their aircraft with the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). This new framework allows owners to fly drones across the EU with a single registration. Beginning December 31, 2020, drone operators will need to register…
eVTOL News on the Fly
Short Hops Around the eVTOL Industry
Flying Pods? Da. Hydrogen-fueled flying pods. Da. While eVTOL developers are working on electric flying cars (Duh!) or hybrid-powered VTOLs, one Russian futurist imagines a VTOL fueled exclusively by hydrogen. He’s designed one in the shape of a hydrogen cell. Muscovite Nikita Konopatov, a “2-D artist and designer,” unveiled his concept, called Future Center Europe, a…
Swarm Intelligence of eVTOL Drones
It’s said, “There’s strength in numbers.” But can there be acumen and judgment too? Even if those numbers are comprised of individuals that, on their own, aren’t particularly intelligent? In a word: Yes. Using artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and nature (think bees, ants, or a flock of geese), scientists are teaching eVTOL drones to use…