FutureFlight

U.S. startup Archer on May 21 announced plans to bring an eVTOL aircraft to market. Backers of the Palo Alto, California-based company include Walmart eCommerce CEO Marc Lore, as well as cofounders Brett Adcock and Adam Goldstein, who recently sold recruitment platform Vettery to the Adecco Group for $100 million.

The European aviation community is asking regulators to put a pause on its current proposal surrounding the integration of drones into airspace and to pursue a more comprehensive consultation on the issue that provides for greater industry input and clarity.

GKN Aerospace has agreed to supply the wings, empennage, and electrical wiring interconnection systems (EWIS) for the Alice regional electric aircraft recently launched by Eviation, the companies announced Monday. The all-composite electric aircraft, designed to fly up to distances of 650 miles, will use distributed propulsion, high-energy-density batteries, so-called mission-driven energy management, and a new airframe tailored to such technological advances for regional flight operators.

Electric aircraft manufacturer Pipistrel is advancing plans for a pair of new cargo aircraft and a hydrogen-powered 20-seat regional airliner. In its newsletter published on May 13, the Slovenian company indicated it intends to focus on these new developments more urgently than on its plans for the Pipistrel 801 eVTOL, which has been shortlisted by rideshare group Uber for its planned Uber Air urban air mobility product.

Both Quantum Air and OSM Aviation are due to operate Bye Aerospace's new eFlyer electric fixed-wing aircraft, with deliveries due to begin in late 2021. The companies say it will take 12 to 20 months to train new pilots.

EHang announced plans for sightseeing flights within weeks of providing its autonomous eVTOL aircraft to support emergency operations in response to flooding and the Covid-19 outbreak in China. The company has also published its first full-year results since going public with a Nasdaq IPO in December 2019.

Ross Perot, Jr. believes the 26,000-acre Fort Worth Alliance airport complex is just the place to develop and test a new generation of delivery drones and passenger eVTOL aircraft. Beginning in the 1980s, Perot’s Hillwood Development donated the land for the public-use airport and developed adjacent industrial, retail, and 10,000 residential properties.

VoltAero this week revealed the production configuration for its Cassio hybrid-electric aircraft. The French company started flight testing the fixed-wing design in early March and plans to achieve type certification under EASA’s CS-23 rules in time for deliveries to begin by the end of 2022.

Wisk hopes to resume flight testing of its Cora eVTOL aircraft before the end of May, subject to the further lifting of Covid-19 lockdown restrictions in New Zealand, where much of the program’s development work is being conducted. Since April 28, when New Zealand moved from level four to level three of its lockdown, Wisk technicians have been able to work in the company’s hangar preparing its prototypes to fly. Tests will be able to restart when level two is achieved, possibly by the end of next week.

NASA started flight testing the first example of the X-57 Maxwell electric aircraft early in 2020 and expects to have four prototypes in test flights by early 2022. Its aim is to provide guidance for electric aircraft pioneers and also regulators.