eVTOL News on the Fly

 eVTOL Maker Lilium Inks Deal with Dusseldorf and Cologne/Bonn Airports

Munich, Germany-based Lilium announced an agreement between the eVTOL manufacturer, Dusseldorf Airport, and Cologne/Bonn Airport to begin exploring how the airports can become hubs and leverage UAM using Lilium’s 5-seat aircraft as a new transportation mode across the North Rhine-Westphalia region.

“We are excited to bring our innovative service to North Rhine-Westphalia,” said Dr. Remo Gerber, Lilium COO.

“Cities such as Aachen, Bielefeld, Münster and Siegen will be directly connected to the region’s largest international airports within 30 minutes, providing emission-free, high-speed connectivity at an affordable price.”

North Rhine-Westphalia Transport Minister Hendrik Wüst, added: “What sounds like science fiction today may soon be reality. In the [German] federal state with the highest mobility needs, smart ideas for better mobility are always welcome. We need all modes of transport in order to provide people with a convincingly diverse range of mobility options.”

Turkish developer Baykar completed the first successful test flight of its Cezeri eVTOL

Turkish UAM Developer Baykar Completes Its First Flight of Cezeri eVTOL

Baykar, a Turkish-based developer of eVTOLs, has successfully completed its first test flight at Corlu Airfield (about 120 kilometers, approximately 75 miles from Istanbul) of its Cezeri eVTOL.

The Cezeri has  a cruise speed of 100km/hr (about 60 mph), a range of 70-80 km (40-50 miles) at a maximum altitude of 2,000 meters (about 6,500 feet). Cezeri uses an 8x brushless DC motor and has a payload of 80-100 kilograms (175-220 lbs.).

Volocopter is now accepting ride reservations.

Volocopter Announces World’s First eVTOL Taxi Taking Reservations

Volocopter GmbH, the Bruchsal, Germany-based developer of the eVTOL Volocopter air taxi, has announced its ticketing system is now accepting reservations (via Eventbrite) for rides the company anticipates will be available in two to three years.

The company promises that after all regulatory certifications have been obtained for its Volocopter to fly, the first 500 passengers will get to take a 15-minute ride (which includes a video of the flight and souvenir certificate) for €300.

To hold your seat now, a deposit of €30 is required. Sales will continue through 31 December 2020 unless they are sold out sooner. Volocopter has made three successful demonstration flights, in Stuttgart, Germany; Helsinki, Finland; and Singapore.

India’s Roter Group Achieves Certification for Trinity F90+ eVTOL Drone

Roter Group, one of India’s leading surveying and mapping enterprises (based in Vasundhara, Uttar Pradesh), has gained certification from the South Asian nation’s Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for “No Permission – No Take-off”(NPNT) certification for its fixed wing eVTOL drone, the Trinity F90+.

The NPNT software program enables most robotic process automation (RPAs) aircraft to obtain permission to fly using the digital sky platform in India. NPNT installs the Digital Sky App provided by the DGCA, which will allow Roter Group’s drones to operate in compliance with the country’s ‘green zone, yellow zone, red zone’ standards.

The Trinity F90+ has a 90+-minute flight time, situational awareness to integrate live air traffic info into its QBase 3D Software, and its on-the-go georeferencing is accurate to within 2-5 centimeters.