FutureFlight

Lilium has started assembling the electric propulsion system (EPS) it has developed for its six-seat eVTOL aircraft. The German company reported the milestone on September 26, a week after announcing that its partner Aciturri is building the first fuselage for one of seven Lilium Jet prototypes with which it intends to begin crewed test flights in late 2024.

Nearly three months after Universal Hydrogen relocated its Dash 8 testbed aircraft from Washington state to Southern California, the hydrogen fuel cell-powered airplane has kicked off a two-year flight test campaign. The converted turboprop, nicknamed “Lightning McClean,” took off from the Mojave Air & Space Port for the first time on September 26 and completed a 20-minute sortie.

GKN Aerospace will lead efforts to develop the high-voltage, high-power electrical wiring interconnection system needed for a hybrid-electric propulsion system that is expected to start flight testing in 2024. The project is being led by Raytheon Technologies companies Pratt & Whitney and Collins Aerospace and is expected to lead to the development of a propulsion system delivering a 30 percent improvement in fuel efficiency and reduced carbon dioxide emissions compared with current regional airliners.

Rolls-Royce and partners have run a Pearl 700 business aircraft engine on 100 percent hydrogen fuel as part of longer-term work to develop a hydrogen combustion engine for narrowbody airliners by the mid-2030s. Working with the UK’s Loughborough University and German aerospace research agency DLR, the aero engines group said tests on a full annular combustor proved that hydrogen can produce maximum takeoff thrust.

Joby Aviation has delivered an air taxi to the Edwards Air Force Base in California about six months ahead of schedule, marking the first-ever delivery of an eVTOL aircraft to a paying customer in the U.S., the company announced Monday. 

Supernal, Hyundai’s urban air mobility subsidiary, has officially opened its research and development facility in Fremont, California, the company announced Thursday. Located right on the edge of Silicon Valley, the 72,000-sq-ft facility is dedicated to the advancement of batteries, autonomous systems, and other technologies that will enable electric air travel and urban air mobility. 

VoltAero has successfully flown its hybrid-electric Cassio testbed using 100 percent sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) provided by TotalEnergies. According to VoltAero, this was the first time any aircraft with a hybrid-electric powertrain has flown on pure SAF, a biofuel that is typically blended with traditional jet fuel. 

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Lilium has started assembling the first of the seven aircraft it will use to complete type certification for its six-passenger eVTOL vehicles. Announcing the milestone on September 19, the German company said it is on track to achieve a first crewed flight with the Lilium Jet in late 2024.

Airbus sees ZeroAvia as a potential ally in its ZeroE project to develop hydrogen-powered airliners by the mid-2030s. With the backing of the European aerospace group, plus more funding from Barclays Sustainable Impact Capital and the Saudi government-backed Neom project, ZeroAvia aims to start bringing existing aircraft converted with its hydrogen fuel cell systems into commercial service by 2025.