FutureFlight

As part of Airbus’s ongoing efforts to advance automation in commercial aviation, the aircraft manufacturer’s Acubed innovation unit in Silicon Valley has now collected data on more than 100 airports across the U.S. The massive data collection campaign, which began in California in 2019 and expanded to the eastern U.S. last year, will help to enable autonomous flight through artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, according to the Europe-based aerospace group. 

Clay Lacy Aviation and Joby Aviation are to install what they say will be the first charging unit for eVTOL air taxis in Southern California. The Global Electric Charging System (GEACS) developed by Joby will form part of Clay Lacy’s $100 million redevelopment of its FBO at John Wayne Airport in Orange County which is due to be completed by mid-2025.

Harsh weather can limit the ability of uncrewed air vehicles to operate, but WaveAerospace says its hybrid-electric Huntress Turbojet will be able to fly in wind conditions of up to Force 10. The U.S. start-up is preparing to start flight testing in June with an aircraft it says will fly at up to around 300 mph in roles that could include search and rescue and critical logistics flights.

East African operators Safarilink and Yellow Wings Air Services have agreed to convert their Cessna Caravan turboprop singles to the electric propulsion system being developed by Surf Air Mobility and partners. In memorandums of understanding announced on January 4, the companies did not commit to buying a specific amount of the conversions, but each currently operates between four and 15 of the nine-passenger Caravans.

New Amphibious Aviation Conference to be Launched in March

EHang this week reported what it says were the first commercial demonstration flights in its EH216-S autonomous eVTOL aircraft. The flights were conducted during demonstration events held in the Chinese cities of Guangzhou and Hefei attended by officials from local government agencies and the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), as well as business people, media, and some members of the public.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China issued an airworthiness certificate for the two-seat autonomous eVTOL vehicle, confirming that EHang has manufactured the first example to conform with the type certificate issued in October.

The purpose of a joint simulation exercise at NASA’s Ames Research Center was to establish how eVTOL air taxi operations can be safely integrated into public airspace. Joby and NASA demonstrated their proposed approach to representatives from the FAA and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association.

In a little more than 12 months, investors in eVTOL aircraft developers have been led to believe they can start expecting commercial returns to start flowing. However, there are still plenty of question marks over the pace and form that the much-vaunted advanced air mobility (AAM) revolution will take. What is clear is that natural selection is taking its course, meaning that just a handful of frontrunners are now vying to be in the first wave to operate the new aircraft.

A new round of testing at Rolls-Royce's Solihull facility in the UK is focused on the engineering challenges associated with taking low-pressure liquid hydrogen, chilled to below minus 250-deg C (minus 418-deg F), and then pressurizing it so that it can be pumped into an aircraft engine to be combusted. It is expected to lead to a ground test run of hydrogen fuel in the Pearl 700 turbofan engine Rolls-Royce developed for business jets.