FutureFlight

Air New Zealand will make the conventional takeoff and landing version of Beta Technologies' Alia vehicle its first electric aircraft, with plans to use one of them for trial commercial cargo flights for the country's postal service. The agreement with Beta could result in the airline buying another 22 aircraft under options and rights covered in an agreement announced on December 5.

Evolito is about to start the type certification process for its axial-flux electric propulsion systems after securing design organization approval from the UK Civil Aviation Authority. The company, which was spun off from automotive group YASA in 2021, says it is working with three or four electric aircraft developers and supplying individual components such as motors to others.

Following a two-week flight test campaign in New Zealand, Wisk Aero says it has successfully demonstrated that autonomous, uncrewed aircraft can safely integrate with regular piloted aircraft in controlled airspace. The California-based eVTOL aircraft developer and its local partners conducted a series of flight trials between November 17 and December 1 to evaluate how pilotless aircraft flying beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) can safely operate under instrument flight rules (IFR) in controlled airspace, where vehicles must comply with air traffic control. 

The Brazilian start-up has begun the flight test program for its drone, using a 70-percent-scale technology demonstrator. The aircraft is expected to have a payload of 200 kilograms (440 pounds) and a range of 300 kilometers (190 miles). The latest prospective customer is 7Reis Farm in Mato Grosso state, which plans to use it to spray soya bean crops.

Crisalion Mobility is targeting what seems likely to be a second wave of eVTOL aircraft market entrants at the end of the decade with the five-passenger Integrity model it unveiled in November. The Spanish start-up, which is set to launch a Series B funding round in the first quarter of 2024, believes its patented FlyFree propulsion and stability system will set it apart from the crowded field of lift-and-cruise and multicopter vehicles already vying to enter service from 2025.

Private flight provider Flexjet has concluded a simulation exercise with Eve Air Mobility focused on how new eVTOL aircraft could be integrated with its existing helicopter and fixed-wing services. The four-day project was conducted during November from Flexjet’s Tactical Control Centre at the London-area Farnborough Airport, using the Urban Air Traffic Management software that Eve intends to make available to its customers and other eVTOL operators.

Rolls-Royce Plans To Sell Electrical Propulsion Division

Bristow Group has stepped up its plans to be the launch operator for Electra.aero’s hybrid-electric STOL aircraft by placing deposits to secure an initial five delivery positions. The agreement announced on Wednesday is based on a memorandum of understanding the helicopter operator signed with Electra in 2021. It covers a preorder for up to 50 of the aircraft, which will be able to carry nine passengers or cargo.

Under a memorandum of understanding, Oregon's aviation officials have indicated they might need as many as 126 of the single-pilot JA1 Pulse eVTOL aircraft to provide improved emergency-response services across the state's large and challenging terrain. Emergency-response professionals will need to be able to fly the aircraft themselves and then help patients on the ground.

Odys Aviation is working to bring an uncrewed air vehicle (UAV) called Laila to market over the next 24 months, targeting a variety of logistics roles. The newly disclosed project is being advanced at the same time that the California start-up is developing its nine-passenger hybrid-electric VTOL aircraft, which features flap-based thrust vectoring to generate lift and a blown wing.