FutureFlight

Honeywell is forming a new Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) business unit to advance the aerospace group’s ambitions in the fast-emerging UAS and urban air mobility (UAM) sectors. The new division, announced today, will have its own engineering and sales resources and will offer aircraft systems, including avionics, hybrid and electric propulsion, thermal management, air traffic management, and ground services such as predictive maintenance.

Urban Aeronautics is developing the CityHawk VTOL and Cormorant unmanned aircraft programs in tandem. Both models currently have turbine propulsion, but the Israeli company intends to offer a hydrogen-powered version of the CityHawk.

Wisk has resumed flying with its Cora eVTOL aircraft after flight testing was interrupted by government restrictions imposed due to the Covid-19 emergency. The company, which is a joint venture between Boeing and Kitty Hawk, announced today that it has restarted flights with four prototypes at its sites New Zealand and California.

EASA this week announced the world’s first full type certification for a fully electric aircraft, issuing approval for Pipistrel’s Velis Electro two-seat trainer. The type certificate follows the European agency’s earlier approval on May 18 of the E-811-268MVLC motor that powers the light single.

Airflow, a startup launched by five former members of Airbus’s Vahana eVTOL aircraft development team, today announced plans to build an electric-powered short takeoff and landing aircraft (eSTOL) to be used for cargo operations. The California-based company said it can get the fixed-wing aircraft into production and certified under FAA Part 23 rules by 2025.

Magnix has made the first flight with a prototype of a Cessna 208B Grand Caravan aircraft powered by its 750-hp Magni500 all-electric propulsion system. On May 28, the aircraft took off from Grant County International Airport in Moses Lake, Washington, and landed more than 30 minutes later after conducting some basic maneuvers.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has approved eVTOL aircraft developer EHang to conduct commercial logistics flights using its 216 Autonomous Aerial Vehicle on behalf of a hotel operator at Taizhou in southern China. EHang claims this is the world’s first commercial pilot operation to be approved by a national aviation authority and the permission has been granted even though the all-electric EHang 216 has not yet completed type certification.

EASA has published proposed methods for certifying eVTOL aircraft in a further step towards establishing a framework for type certification. The "Proposed Means of Compliance with Special Condition VTOL" document was issued on May 25 and industry stakeholders have until July 24 to comment.

Germany-based Lilium is preparing to resume flight testing with a second demonstrator example of its all-electric Lilium Jet eVTOL aircraft once restrictions imposed in response to the Covid-19 pandemic are eased. A small contingent of the company’s engineering team is currently able to work on the aircraft at its headquarters near Munich and a spokesman told AIN that it hopes changes to social distancing rules will permit flight tests to restart in “a few months.”

Ampaire, a developer of hybrid electric aircraft propulsion, has teamed with Ikhana Aircraft Services to explore modifying Twin Otter airframes to fly with that technology. California-based Ikhana is known for engineering modifications for Twin Otters, including having received an FAA supplemental type certificate for its DHC-6-300HG with a maximum gross weight increase to 14,000 pounds, from 12,500 pounds.