FutureFlight

Boeing's Transonic Truss-braced Wing Concept is to be further advanced as NASA's X-66A project as part of the U.S. Aviation Climate Action Plan. The work has $425 million in backing from NASA under the Sustainable Flight Demonstrator project, with Boeing and partners contributing a further $725 million. They will fly a demonstrator aircraft featuring extra-long, thin wings attached to the fuselage with diagonal struts referred to as the transonic truss-braced wing concept.

Norwegian start-up Elfly Group this week announced plans for an all-electric seaplane it says will be ready to enter commercial passenger-carrying service in 2030, with a cargo version ready by 2028. At an unveiling event in Oslo on June 14, the company said that early versions of the Noemi aircraft will have between six and 13 seats and will fly up to around 200 kilometers (109 nm) at speeds of up to 250 knots.

Electra.aero has built a technology demonstrator vehicle that it will use to complete the development of its hybrid-electric eSTOL aircraft. During an event on Monday attended by some 200 guests at its headquarters in Manassas, Virginia, the company revealed the two-seat model, which it says is the world’s first blown-lift aircraft powered by distributed electric propulsion.

Just over 20 years since the AW609 tiltrotor aircraft flew for the first time in March 2003, the FAA is issuing proposals for completing a protracted type certification process that Leonardo began back in 2012. The proposed certification criteria are based on FAR 21.17 (b) rules that the U.S. regulator intends to apply for new powered-lift aircraft such as the multiple eVTOL vehicles now in development. The consultation process will run through July 10.

VoltAero is receiving a grant worth around $6 million under the French government's France 2030 regeneration investment fund, which was set up partly in response to the Covid crisis. The French start-up is gathering provisional sales commitments for its Cassio family of hybrid-electric aircraft as it prepares to exhibit at the Paris Air Show later this month.

Several technology start-ups, as well as aerospace giant Airbus, are working on plans to power aircraft with liquid or gaseous hydrogen, either through direct combustion or using fuel cells to generate electrical power. But at the recent European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition, some observers made the case that hydrogen can more effectively be used to manufacture sustainable aviation fuels for existing aircraft propulsion systems.

The FAA's eagerly awaited proposals for the requirements for training pilots of new powered-lift aircraft, such as eVTOL vehicles, are viewed as an important step in preparing for advanced air mobility operations. Operators of air taxi services, in particular, face a challenge to recruit and train the many pilots they anticipate will be required for the new mode of air transportation.

Surf Air Presses Ahead with Plans To Go Public with New York Stock Exchange Listing

Brazil's Moya Aero says it is developing Latin America's first high-capacity autonomous aircraft for applications such as crop spraying and freight deliveries. The company is close to completing the construction of a 70 percent scale technology demonstrator of the all-electric vehicle as it prepares to start flight testing in September.

TruWeather says its V360° software-as-a-service weather data analytics and forecasting technology can provide operators of piloted eVTOL aircraft and uncrewed aircraft systems with vital real-time information and forecasting about highly localized, low-altitude meteorological conditions. This has prompted eVTOL vehicle developer Supernal to invest in the company so that it can integrate the technology into its plans to build and operate a four-passenger vehicle in urban areas where high buildings can distort wind patterns.