FutureFlight

Abu Dhabi has stepped up its efforts to be an early adopter of advanced air mobility (AAM) through a partnership announced this week with eVTOL aircraft developer Archer Aviation. Under a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed on October 16, the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) committed to making a substantial, but as-yet-undisclosed, investment in what would be Archer’s first international operation, through various incentives and capital expenditures over the next few years.

Honeywell will use its connectivity technology to operate ground control stations to handle both uncrewed and remotely piloted eVTOL aircraft. The company has started working on these plans with eVTOL vehicle developer Supernal.

Quantum3D, a Silicon Valley-based company that develops flight simulation technologies for the aerospace and defense industries, has revealed its first mixed-reality flight simulator for an eVTOL air taxi. The company recently debuted its new simulator at the Airtaxi World Congress in San Francisco, where attendees had the opportunity to try their hand at piloting the LimoConnect, an eVTOL air taxi being developed by Limosa. 

The electrical harness system for the Lilium Jet has been designed to balance the need for maximum power performance with weight and space limitations in the airframe. Lilium jointly developed the patented technology for its all-electric aircraft's ducted fan propulsion system with program partners GKN Aerospace and Rosenberger.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China is the first air safety agency to issue type certification for an eVTOL aircraft, having cleared EHang's EH216-S two-seat model to start commercial, passenger-carrying flights in the country. More remarkably, the EH216-S will operate autonomously with operations coordinated from ground control centers—something that no other international aviation regulator appears to be even close to allowing.

Japan’s SkyDrive this week confirmed more details about its plan to start series production of its three-seat SD-05 eVTOL aircraft. The start-up announced it has established a subsidiary production company called Sky Works in partnership with Suzuki Motor Corporation, which is providing capacity at its factory in Iwata City to assemble the aircraft at an initial rate of 100 units per year.

Archer Aviation has closed agreements with financing and development partners for the construction of its high-volume manufacturing facility in Covington, Georgia, where the California-based start-up plans to mass produce its Midnight eVTOL aircraft. 

EHang Suspends Nasdaq Share Trading Ahead of “Significant Announcement”

Chinese eVTOL aircraft developer EHang suspended trading in its shares on New York’s Nasdaq exchange, citing “an upcoming announcement concerning a very significant development regarding its business operations.” While no further details were provided, the company has long indicated the Civil Aviation Administration of China could be close to issuing type certification of its two-seat, autonomous EH-216S vehicle.

Opener Aero, the company behind the BlackFly personal eVTOL aircraft, is rebranding and introducing its first production aircraft. Now operating under the name Pivotal, the California-based company is getting ready to begin accepting orders for its first scalable production vehicle, called Helix, in early 2024. 

Ampaire has been confirmed as the first of several electric and hybrid electric propulsion system developers that will work with Elire Aero on its plans to convert existing aircraft. Elire says it expects to confirm during November the identity of the airframer it is acquiring and that this will be followed by announcements about an initial batch of "preorders" for two dozen of the aircraft.