FutureFlight

Honeywell's engineering team has been developing flight controls and avionics for Lilium's seven-seat eVTOL aircraft for the past 18 months and is already supplying equipment for an iron-bird ground test rig. The flight control system will have triple redundancy so that if one set of sensors fail, the other two units will take full control. Lilium expects to fly a full-conforming prototype in 2022 and have the aircraft in commercial service before the end of 2024.

Electric Power Systems has developed the new Epic Energy, Power, and Ultra battery modules to fit a variety of eVTOL and fixed-wing aircraft applications. The batteries offer thermal runaway safety protection, as well as improved discharge and charging rates. Initial customers are expected to take delivery of early units before the end of 2021, with the batteries expected to be approved under technical standard orders in 2022.

Electra's hybrid-electric short takeoff and landing aircraft will be operated by a single pilot and carry up to seven passengers on regional services. Using the company's "blown lift" technology, the aircraft will be able to take off and land at speeds as low as 30 mph, meaning that it will be able to operate from little more than 100 feet of runway. Electra aims to start flight testing a technology demonstrator before the end of 2021.

Airflow's fixed-wing hybrid-electric short takeoff and landing aircraft is expected to be able to operate from runways as short as 150 to 200 feet when it enters service in 2025. The company says that it now has an order book worth more than $200 million, including commitments for 50 aircraft from U.S. regional airline Ravn Alaska. The aircraft will be powered by a hybrid-electric propulsion system developed by VerdeGo Aero.

JetPack Aviation expects its 600-pound payload Speeder VTOL aircraft to begin its working life in military service beginning around 2024. Its requirement to have both a small footprint and significant payload meant that the company did not feel able to use either electric or hybrid-electric propulsion, but it says the partnership with Prometheus Fuels will make zero net carbon fuel available to its operators.

Eve Urban Air Mobility Solutions, which is a subsidiary of Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer, now has two launch customers for its four-passenger eVTOL aircraft. Brazilian helicopter operator Helisul Aviation says that it intends to operate up to 50 of the all-electric model in air taxi service, as does OneSky Flight's new Halo division. The partners intend to start early proof-of-concept operations using Helisul's existing helicopter fleet.

Rolls-Royce's 2.5 megawatt Power Generation System 1 is a demonstrator program aimed at producing bybrid-electric propulsion system for future regional airliners. The company is conducted ground testing with the new unit at its facilities in the UK and Norway.

EHang conducted a public flight demonstration with its EH216 eVTOL aircraft during a public event in Japan's Okayama prefecture as part of its efforts to build public and official support for advanced air mobility services. The Chinese company said it is being assisted by an unnamed local partner.

On June 10, Archer Aviation will provide the advanced air mobility sector with its first look at the Maker technology demonstrator it is using to develop a larger eVTOL aircraft due to enter commercial service in 2024. The event will be held in Los Angeles which, along with Miami, is a launch city for the company's planned air taxi services.

Eviation is preparing to conduct a first flight with its nine-seat, all-electric Alice aircraft before the end of 2023. It recently took delivery of the electric propulsion system provided by MagniX, and now it has the first set of integrated wings, empennage, and wiring from another key program partner, GKN Aerospace.