FutureFlight

SkyAngels Air Ambulance, an emergency medical flight provider based in the UK, has partnered with the Dutch “flying car” manufacturer PAL-V International to explore uses for the PAL-V Liberty fly-and-drive vehicle in emergency response operations. The charity service says it plans to use the vehicle to quickly and efficiently transport doctors and paramedics in emergency situations.

Universal Hydrogen has successfully flown its hydrogen-powered De Havilland Dash 8-300 turboprop testbed for the first time. Retrofitted with a hydrogen fuel cell in one of its nacelles, the Dash 8 took off from Grant County International Airport in Moses Lake, Washington, on March 2.

Emergency medical services group CareFlight is to assist AMSL Aero in preparing its Vertiia eVTOL aircraft to be used for carrying patients. The Australian companies announced their partnership during this week’s Avalon Air Show near Melbourne, where they exhibited a cabin mock-up equipped for aeromedical use.

Lockheed Martin is backing technology start-up H3X in the development of an integrated modular motor drive that it says will deliver the quantum leap in power density and fault tolerance needed to power 50- to 100-seat aircraft. The value of the U.S. aerospace and defense giant’s investment in H3X was not disclosed in a February 28 announcement, but it takes H3X’s funding total to $9 million.

AutoFlight is claiming a world record for the longest flight by an eVTOL aircraft on a single electric charge. On March 2, the company reported that its latest Generation 4 prototype has flown 250.3 kilometers (156.4 miles), which is three kilometers longer than the distance covered by Joby Aviation’s prototype during a test flight in July 2021.

Whisper Aero, a Tennessee-based tech start-up developing what it claims will be the quietest electric propulsion system on the market, is getting ready to finally offer the public a taste of its secret sauce. 

Charter booking platform KinectAir aims to deploy Electra's nine-passenger eSTOL aircraft on point-to-point regional air mobility services in the U.S. Pacific Northwest region from 2027. Under an agreement with Electra, Part 135 operators in its network would own and operate up to 30 of the hybrid-electric fixed-wing model, which is expected to have a range of up to 400 nm.

Australia’s Kite Magnetics has introduced its 120-kilowatt electric propulsion unit (EPU), which is intended for electric aviation applications that could include conventional fixed-wing aircraft, as well as eVTOL and eSTOL designs, high-altitude satellites, and wing-in-ground craft. The company plans to announce its first flight test partner in March as part of an effort to build operational data over the next 12 months.

Solithor says its patented nano-solid composite electrolytes and nano-anodes technology, combined with a new pouch-cell design, could deliver significant improvements in the energy density of batteries for electric regional aircraft and eVTOL vehicles. It is working with aerospace group Sonaca to bring the batteries to market and integrate them with aircraft.

The United Arab Emirates’ Strategic Development Fund is investing $3 million in Mayman Aerospace’s plans to bring the remotely piloted Speeder VTOL aircraft to market. The capital injection announced on February 22 is the latest investment in the advanced air mobility sector by the venture capital arm of the Tawazun Council, which oversees the Gulf state’s sovereign wealth fund.