FutureFlight

The Community Air Mobility Initiative wants to help the urban air mobility industry engage constructively with the communities they want to serve, acknowledging concerns and demonstrate public benefit beyond the richest members of society. It is stepping up engagement with local, state and national officials across the U.S.

Japan's Tetra Aviation won the GoFly disruptor award for their single-seat eVTOL aircraft. Windy conditions during the event at Moffett airfield in California on Leap Day (February 29) meant that it was not possible to evaluate all the entries in flight.

VoltAero's Cassio hybrid-electric fixed wing aircraft is heavily influenced by the Cessna 337 Skymaster push-pull design. It is being developed for a variety of passenger-carrying and utility roles and, according to the company, will take a little more than two years to complete type certification.

Property developers in Australia are being encouraged to build rooftop landing sites that will be ready to receive eVTOL aircraft when they win approval to start urban air mobility services. Infrastructure pioneer believes that Melbourne is well-placed to be an early-adopter city.

EHang says that unmanned aircraft like the 216 are especially valuable in avoiding unnecessary human contact that could spread the COVID-19 virus. It has been participating in flight trials in the Chinese city of Hezhou, flying supplies to the local hospital.

Singapore-based helicopter rideshare charter broker Ascent is holding talks with multiple eVTOL aircraft developers. It believes commercial operations could start in Southeast Asia during 2025, marking an important step in the charter market's efforts to be more environmentally sustainable.

Joint development work by the Russian Foundation for Advanced Research Projects and SuperOx is tapping high-temperature superconductor technology to improve the efficiency of electric motors. The partners say the motors could be used to re-engine existing aircraft as well as to power new eVTOL designs.

In a sign that Asia might prove to be where Volocopter launches its plans to operate eVTOL air taxi services, the German company is working with a prominent Singapore-based consumer app on a feasibility study. The move suggests that Volocopter intends to avoid joining the Uber Air partnership, that is already supported by eight rival eVTOL aircraft developers.

ASX's prospects for making progress in the development of its Mobi-One eVTOL aircraft may improve with the launch of a new partnership with established aerospace manufacturing group Spirit AeroSystems. Plus the Detroit startup company is poised to seek fresh investment through a Series A funding round.

The SkyGrid aerial operating system now includes highly localized weather data, as well as a wide array of information about the airspace in which unmanned aircraft operate. Today it's supporting drone operations, but eVTOL air taxi services could also benefit from the system.