FutureFlight

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.

Canada-based AMPERe and its subsidiaries are developing an autonomous, hydrogen-powered VTOL that will be able to carry four people on urban air mobility missions.

MagniX is working to certify its Magni500 electric motor so that it can provide quieter and more environmentally friendly propulsion for existing aircraft, including the DHC-2 Beaver and the Cessna Grand Caravan. The company expects to have supplemental type certificates in place to convert these types by 2022 and 2023, respectively.

Calling the collaboration part of the "next evolution of private aircraft expansion," Bell said the partnership will leverage the large customer base and Avianis flight scheduling software at Wheels Up and Bell’s VTOL aircraft—likely Bell 429 helicopters in the near term and Nexus eVTOLs in the longer term—to provide intra-urban travel from/to city centers using existing airports and helipads.

Blade Urban Air Mobility intends to fund the purchase of 20 of Beta's Alia aircraft through third-party financing supported by its operating partners. The first of the all-electric aircraft are due to be delivered in 2024, with Blade planning to put them into commercial services out of its existing private terminals in 2025, likely starting in the New York City area.

Amazilia Aerospace, the German subsidiary of Chinese freight delivery group SF Express, will provide the flight control and vehicle management systems for a hybrid-electric cargo drone to be designed and built by Pipistrel. The model is based on the Nuuva V300 aircraft that Pipistrel already has under development.