FutureFlight

Aerus, a new regional airline in Mexico, has conditionally agreed to purchase 30 Alice commuter airplanes from Washington state-based electric aircraft developer Eviation. The airline, which aims to begin operations in the first quarter of 2023, plans to use the nine-seat, fully electric commuter airplane for “middle-mile” travel in northern Mexico.

Software entrepreneur Rolf-Jürgen Moll is joining Germany's Apus Group as a strategic investor in its plans to develop hydrogen-powered aircraft. The company’s January 18 announcement did not disclose the amount of the new funding, but APUS founder and CEO Phillip Scheffel said that it has now raised €40 million ($43 million)—enough to support work to have an initial prototype flying in the first half of 2024.

Supernal, Hyundai Motor Group’s advanced air mobility division, will use Microsoft’s Azure cloud computing platform to conduct flight simulations with highly autonomous eVTOL aircraft. The company is also looking to incorporate Microsoft’s HoloLens 2 augmented-reality headset into its manufacturing and maintenance activities. 

Jetoptera, a start-up developing innovative VTOL and STOL aircraft concepts using bladeless fan technology, has completed its fourth small business innovation and research  (SBIR) contract for the U.S. Air Force as part of the development work for a High Speed VTOL (HSVTOL) military aircraft. The Washington-based company this week reported that it has conducted an initial evaluation of what it calls its “3-in-1” propulsion system and is preparing to start wind-tunnel tests with a subscale model.

Parker Meggitt's eBuffer will be part of the energy storage equipment for the hydrogen propulsion system Airbus needs for its planned ZeroE airliner. The partners say the technology will complement the hydrogen-electric fuel cell primary power source by making it safer, more efficient, and light.

The agreement for LCI to buy up to 40 of the hybrid-electric Chaparral eVTOL vehicles takes Elroy Air's order book to 900 aircraft with a reported combined value of $2 billion. The leasing group is joining a list of prospective customers for the aircraft that already includes helicopter operator Bristow and delivery giant FedEx.

Destinus, the European start-up developing a hydrogen-powered hypersonic aircraft, is preparing to start flight tests with a subscale propulsion system prototype on its Jungfrau technology demonstrator in February. The next phase of work will build on recently completed tests using an afterburner it has integrated with an off-the-shelf turbojet engine as part of a long-term goal to produce an aircraft that would operate on intercontinental flights at speeds exceeding Mach 5.

Cornwall, in the southwest corner of England, has become a hub for efforts to demonstrate how drones could overcome infrastructure limitations and generate economic opportunities through services such as ship-to-shore supply flights. Over the next 15 months, the Open Skies Cornwall project will conduct flight trials using a Skyports drone to support real-life use cases with the National Health Service (NHS), Royal Mail, Falmouth Harbour, and the UK military’s emergency relief group JHubMed.

Ryse Aero Technologies, a Cincinnati-based company developing a personal eVTOL for agricultural applications, just became the first eVTOL maker to fly its aircraft at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

If you think you can model eVTOL aircraft charging based on the same systems used for electric cars, think again. That is the message from Josh Portlock, the chief technology officer of Electro, an Australia-based company that manufactures electric aircraft charging products.