FutureFlight

Aviation propulsion pioneer H55 is joining forces with Vmo Aircraft Leasing to incentivize the adoption of electric aircraft and their associated batteries and energy management systems by offering financing packages. The companies, which launched their partnership in April, say they plan to offer leasing options to aircraft operators and manufacturers that will boost the operational and capital case for switching to zero-carbon technology.

It’s been three years since Honeywell Aerospace took a leap into the advanced air mobility (AAM) market with the launch of a new division dedicated entirely to uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) and what it and some others still refer to as urban air mobility (UAM). Since its inception, the new division has won in more than $7 billion in contracts from aircraft manufacturers looking to incorporate Honeywell's technologies into their new products. 

Eve Air Mobility is now selecting “main equipment” suppliers and during the second half of this year will begin assembling the first full-scale prototype of its eVTOL aircraft, according to Eve co-CEO Andre Stein. Speaking to reporters during a briefing held by parent company Embraer in Portugal on May 26, he said that recent ground tests of propulsion systems and wind tunnel testing have also helped move the program forward. 

Boeing has assumed full ownership of eVTOL aircraft developer Wisk Aero, which has been run as a joint venture with Kitty Hawk, an advanced mobility start-up formed by Google co-founder Larry Page and Google executive Sebastian Thrun. Speaking at a media briefing in South Carolina on May 31, Wisk CEO Brian Yutko announced the change of ownership while not providing any details about financial terms for the transaction between Boeing and its former partners.

Volocopter Selects Maintenance Software for eVTOL Aircraft Operations

Piasecki Aircraft Corporation (PiAC) is acquiring Lockheed Martin’s Sikorsky Heliplex facility in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, to establish a research and development hub for VTOL aircraft and uncrewed aerial systems. The 219,000-sq-ft site previously served as the production and delivery center for Sikorsky’s S-76 and S-92 helicopters.

Destinus, the European start-up developing a hydrogen-powered hypersonic aircraft, has flown its Jungfrau subscale technology demonstrator drone using new hydrogen afterburners. The company said that multiple flights conducted at an undisclosed airport near Munich on May 24 marked the world’s first inflight deployment of hydrogen afterburner technology.

Cargo drone start-up Dronamics says it has successfully completed the first flight of its flagship aircraft, the Black Swan. The remotely piloted cargo freighter took off from Balchik Airfield in northeast Bulgaria and flew for 10 minutes and 30 seconds, reaching an altitude of 2,000 feet. 

Lyte Aviation is exploring the basis for hybrid-electric VTOL flights to replace ferries to connect island communities in the Seattle area with its planned 40-seat SkyBus LA-44 aircraft. The European start-up unveiled plans for the tandem tilt-wing design in March and is working toward projected type certification and service entry in 2030.

Natilus's Kona autonomous cargo aircraft is a blended-wing-body design, which the company says is well suited to storing hydrogen fuel to maximize payload and range. It will use the ZA600 hydrogen-electric propulsion system being developed by ZeroAvia.