Manufacturers
EASA Flips the On Switch for Electric Aircraft
Patrick Ky, executive director of The European Union Aviation and Space Agency (EASA), announced on June 10, 2020 that EASA had given two thumbs up to the world’s first fully electric aircraft. The Pipistrel Velis Electro is a two-seat aircraft intended primarily for pilot training, according to Slovenia-based Pipistrel. The aircraft was certified in less…
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…
Vertiports: If You Build Them, Will They Come?
Horse, stable. Ship, dock. Car, garage. Airplane, hangar. Air transportation vehicles need a place to park, too. Whether to refuel, recharge, or reload, the urban air mobility (UAM) vehicles in development today will need somewhere to depart from and somewhere to land. They will need infrastructure to support them, not the least of which will…
Vertical Aerospace’s Seraph Lands at London’s Canary Wharf for a Sneak Preview
Well, technically, lands is inaccurate. The Seraph eVTOL was transported there so the public could have a look-see at what the future holds for one of their hometown urban air mobility heroes – Vertical Aerospace. The company’s prototype is hoping to be launched in the summer of 2020, with a planned certification date at…
Bell Unveils Its Nexus 4EX
At the 2020 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, helicopter manufacturer Bell revealed the latest version of its Nexus vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) vehicle, now called the Bell Nexus 4EX. The original e-VTOL vehicle, unveiled at the 2019 CES, had six tilted ducted fans; this version, as the new name implies, has four….
Uber and Hyundai Debut Full-Scale Air Taxi Model at CES
Hello, world. Welcome the S-A1, a personal air vehicle (PAV), which debuted at the Consumer Electronics Show on January 6, 2020. Uber Elevate, the urban air mobility unit of ride-sharing leader, Uber, and Hyundai, South Korea’s auto manufacturing behemoth, presented a full-scale model (shown here) of the eVTOL they are developing in Las Vegas. While…