FutureFlight

Leonardo's Swiss-based Kopter subsidiary has been designated as the group's center of excellence for new rotorcraft technology. The prototypes for its new AW09 single-engine helicopter will likely be used as the basis for a technology demonstrator for the proposed hybrid-electric design.

Initially, the Oxis Quasi Solid-State Li-S cells will have specific energy levels of around 450 Wh/kg and energy density of 550 Wh/L, which is already higher than existing lithium-ion batteries. The company expects to improve this performance by at least one-third by 2026.

MightyFly says that it can operate a fleet of cargo eVTOL aircraft almost completely autonomously, with just a small team of controllers monitoring flights from the ground. Packages will be transferred autonomously between aircraft at dedicated transfer stations located close to its business customers, with trial operations due to start in 2022.

Canadian regional airline Harbour Air plans to convert its fleet of Beaver aircraft to electrical power and, in partnership with MagniX and H55, offer other operators a conversion kit under a supplemental type certificate. The partners are aiming to have the conversion on the market by 2022.

With around 13 million people, Bavaria is Germany's second-most-populous state, after North Rhine-Westphalia, where Lilium already has an agreement in place to launch regional flights in its six-passenger eVTOL aircraft.

Volocopter's new joint venture with Geely will likely involve the Chinese group's general aviation subsidiary Aerofugia, which is now developing the Transition flying car program started by U.S.-based Terrafugia and has plans for a four-seat eVTOL design called the TF-2A. The partners want to launch air taxi services in several Chinese cities.

Announcing full-year financial results for 2020, EHang's management said that in 2021 the company will transition to a full-service urban air mobility operating model as it steps up efforts to complete type certification of its short-range EH216 aircraft. The Civil Aviation Administration of China has established a team dedicated to handling the type certification application, which was formally accepted in January 2020.

Horizon's survey of private equity and venture capital investors supports estimates of at least 160,000 eVTOL air taxis in commercial service by 2050. However, the projected IPO valuation for its prospective new parent company Astro Aerospace seems far less clear with its current OTC stock price well below its target for a transaction that is due to close in the second quarter of 2021.

In flight trials, a pilot monitors the autonomous operations of a Cessna 208B Grand Caravan equipped with Xwing's Autoflight System from the company mission control center in Concord, California. The company is working to get FAA clearance for unmanned commercial cargo services on regional routes of up to around 500 miles.

NFT is marketing the hybrid-electric Aska primarily to private owners who it says will be able to fly the vehicle with just a private pilot's license. However, the FAA and other regulators have yet to determine exactly what training requirements will apply for eVTOL aircraft with multiple electric motors, and most other market entrants anticipate that operations will start with more experienced pilots at the controls.