FutureFlight

To accommodate the blooming advanced air mobility industry, the FAA needs to be flexible in applying existing regulations for conventional aircraft to new technologies, the agency’s executive director of Aircraft Certification Service, Lirio Liu, said on September 12 at the Revolution Aero conference in San Francisco. However, she did not specifically address industry concerns regarding the possible use of a "special class" under its 21.17 (b) regulations in place of the 14 CFR Part 23 rules used for most existing small fixed-wing aircraft.

Beta Technologies has launched a mobile app that provides access to the electric vehicle charging stations it is installing across the U.S. The start-up, which is developing the Alia 250 eVTOL aircraft, says that the new Beta Charge facilities are be able to support other makes of electric aircraft and also electric road vehicles.

Netherlands-based PAV-V International now expects to get EASA airworthiness approval for its two-seat gyroplane under the special conditions the European regulator agreed to last year for existing CS-27 rules. The Liberty vehicle, which is already cleared for road use, is expected to be able to transition to flight mode in six minutes, with operators deploying stowable rotors before takeoff.

German eVTOL developer Volocopter has partnered with Aviation Safety and Quality Solutions (ASQS), an Austrian software company, to help it design and produce aircraft to certification standards. Under the partnership, Volocopter will implement ASQS’s integrated quality and safety management system (IQSMS) in all aspects of its business, including engineering, manufacturing, operations, and maintenance.

Airbus and Japanese helicopter operator Hiratagakuen are working together to create a simulation of ideal flight routes and a concept of operations for eVTOL air taxi services in the Kansai region. A demonstration flight is scheduled to take place there later this year.

A $15 million investment by United Airlines in Eve Air Mobility accompanies a conditional purchase agreement for 200 four-seat electric aircraft plus 200 options calling for first deliveries as early as 2026. The companies plan to study the development, use, and application of Eve’s eVTOL vehicle and the so-called urban air mobility ecosystem.

Electra has completed a fully integrated test of its hybrid-electric propulsion system for a nine-seat electric short takeoff and landing (eSTOL) demonstrator that is scheduled for first flight by the end of the year. Planning eventually to scale the system for larger aircraft, the company also wants to adapt its eSTOL vehicle for hydrogen and battery-electric power.

VPorts, a Mirabel, Québec-based company founded in 2021 to develop AAM infrastructure, last week announced its plans to create the region’s first eVTOL vertiport network.. Initially, VPorts will focus on regional cargo flights and the transportation of patients and medical supplies, including organs for transplants. 

Volant Aerotech has unveiled a full-scale technology demonstrator of the four-passenger eVTOL aircraft VE25, for which it aims to achieve type certification in 2026. The Chinese company rolled out the first full-scale example of the lift-and-cruise design on September 2 at an airfield in Yixin, a city near Shanghai.

Safran has begun talks to acquire Thales’s aeronautical systems business next year. The proposed transaction would involve Thales Avionics Electrical Systems and Thales Avionics Electrical Motors companies, which operate sites in the Paris region in Chatou, Meru, and Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, as well as the support, maintenance, and production activities for aeronautical electrical equipment in Florida and Singapore.