FutureFlight

Zuri is developing a five-seat hybrid-electric VTOL aircraft that it says will have a range of up to around 700 kilometers that will support regional air services connecting smaller cities with larger hubs. The Czech company, which has already conducted hover testing with a technology demonstrator and has also flown a sub-scale model, is now seeking to raise around $16.5 million.

Natilus, a California-based aerospace start-up developing autonomous cargo airplanes, has successfully flown a subscale technology demonstrator for the first time. The company intends to introduce a family of remotely piloted cargo freighters featuring a unique blended-wing-body (BWB) design that will be capable of carrying more cargo than traditional airplanes of comparable size.

Taiho is the second company to publicly commit to buying SkyDrive's SD-05 two-seat eVTOL aircraft, which will have a range of just 10 kilometers and is expected to enter service in 2025. Japan-based SkyDrive has also logged preorders from one of its early backers, the venture capitalist Kotaro Chiba, and from Vietnam's Pacific Group.

As the city of Miami gears up to become a possible early adopter of eVTOL air taxi services, a local college has launched a consortium of academic, industry, and government partners to help bring the vision of urban air mobility to fruition. The University of Miami's College of Engineering has announced the creation of the Miami Engineering Autonomous Mobility Initiative, which “aims to advance autonomous mobility technology and anticipate challenges to implementation in today’s cities.”

Cranfield Aerospace Solutions (CAeS) has selected Evolito will provide the electric motor and inverters for its Project Fresson hydrogen-powered aircraft. Under the terms of an agreement announced on April 14. Evolito will contribute to efforts to retrofit twin-engined Britten-Norman Islander aircraft to carry nine passengers on short-haul routes, with the goal of having the first converted models approved in 2025.

With the FAA determining that its FlightOS technology satisfies the current means-of-compliance requirements for flight controls, Skyryse believes it could install the first of the new systems on existing helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft under supplemental type certificates during 2024.

Regent is inviting prospective customers and partners to inspect a full-scale mock-up of the Viceroy sea glider it expects to be ready for passenger-carrying commercial flights in 2025. It also announced the selection of key suppliers for the electric-powered vehicles' motors and batteries.

Autonomous aviation pioneer Xwing says it has formally begun the FAA approval process for its “Superpilot” autonomous flight control system, which the company plans to use for pilotless cargo delivery flights in the U.S.

Xwing says it recently filed its project-specific certification plan with the FAA, making the company’s self-piloting Cessna cargo airplane the first standard-category large uncrewed aircraft system (UAS) to receive official project designation from the agency. 

Maeve Aerospace believes that batteries provided by Amprius will be sufficient to support an all-electric aircraft carrying 44 passengers on city pairs of up to 460 km (250 nmi) by 2029. The start-up says its design will be scalable so that as propulsion technology improves both payload and range can be increased progressively to more than 50 passengers and 710 km.

SkyDrive has started accepting preorders from private individuals for its SD-05 two-seat eVTOL aircraft. The Japanese company has been securing preorders from business customers since unveiling a new design for the vehicle in September 2022, with Vietnam’s Pacific Group being the first to commit with an agreement to take up to 100 units.