FutureFlight

Three of Volocopter's Japanese investors are partnering to lay the groundwork for launching eVTOL aircraft services in a country that until recently has had relatively low levels of general aviation activity.

Reliable Robotics has already flown Cessna light aircraft without pilots on-board, and initially plans to integrate its flight management system with new aircraft being developed for advanced air mobility or urban air mobility operations. Initially at least, the systems would support remotely-piloted flights.

ZeroAvia says it aims to get a 10- to 20-seat aircraft retrofitted with its hydrogen propulsion system and ready to start commercial services in 2023. The program is being supported by the UK government-backed Aerospace Technology Institute.

Eco Helicopters is teaming with KiloWatt Aviation and OC Helicopters on a business model that would make electric-powered R44 available for the charter market through a leaseback arrangement with the aircraft owners.

Universal Hydrogen and its new partner Plug Power will build a ground-based prototype for a two-MW hydrogen-electric propulsion system that they intend to retrofit into regional airlines for service entry starting in 2024.

Nearly $3 million in funding from the UK's Aerospace Technology Institute is supporting work by eVTOL developer Vertical Aerospace and a team from the University of Warwick on a supercharger that could extend the range of electric aircraft.

Heart Aerospace feels that its native Scandinavian region is an ideal environment to advance the early adoption of electric air transportation because the local population is increasingly insistent that aviation must lower its environmental footprint and because governments are actively supportive of the new technology. Its ES-19 aircraft is expected to enter commercial service during 2026.

Eight months after the Japanese automotive group invested $394 million with eVTOL developer Joby Aviation, Toyota Research Institute-Advanced Development has announced an $800 million fund called Woven Capital that will focus on autonomous mobility, automation, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and so-called smart cities.

Turkish defense group Baykar Technologies says it will step up the development of flying cars but indicated that it may take more than a decade for these to be ready for use on urban roads.

In an announcement on September 21, European aerospace group Airbus mapped out a plan to get hydrogen-powered airliners into commercial service by 2035 and unveiled concepts for aircraft that could carry between 100 and 200 passengers on flights of up to around 2,300 miles.