FutureFlight

The FAA has granted a request from UPS Flight Forward to allow it to conduct drone delivery flights under an exemption from Part 135 rules. The decision could set a significant precedent for an industry that expects to scale up operations at such a pace that it will struggle to recruit suitably trained personnel. The bottom line from the decision, which was relayed to the company on April 27, is that remote pilots in command (RPIC) who lack commercial pilot certificates can operate UPS's small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS).

Hydrogen’s stock is rising in terms of its perceived value in longer-term efforts to transform the environmental sustainability of aviation. It also seems to have the potential of unlocking significantly greater payload and range than seems likely to be delivered by electric batteries for the foreseeable future.

EASA recently published the final version of its special condition requirements for the certification of electric and hybrid-electric propulsion systems (EHPS). The document, which was subject to extensive consultation during 2020, will be of particular significance to developers of new eVTOL aircraft, but also to a wide array of manned and unmanned aircraft.

There was no shortage of buzz in the early years of the 21^st century as pioneers of the so-called very light jets (VLJs) set about revolutionizing the private aviation industry. If that sounds familiar to eVTOL evangelists, it’s because there were some common threads in that trend. There were also some important lessons to be learned from a market trend that never quite lived up to all the hype.

When Alastair McIntosh first heard about the Lilium Jet and its array of 36 electric-powered ducted fans, he wasn’t convinced that the new eVTOL design would measure up to the lofty ambitions of the young German start-up company behind the project. At the time, he was managing director and head of engineering and technology with Rolls-Royce Germany, and during a 33-year career with that UK-based aircraft engines giant, he had worked on mighty turbofans such as the 118-inch-diameter Trent XWB, which powers the Airbus A350 widebody airliner.

SMG Consulting, which produces a "Reality Index"  to track the credibility of rival eVTOL aircraft programs, has added a new map to its website tracking cities that are expected to be early adopters of Advanced Air Mobility services. By clicking on icons, you can see details of when services are expected to start and which company will be operating them. A small propeller aircraft icon designates short-range urban air mobility services, while a larger jet aircraft icon shows where longer-range intra-city mobility services are anticipated.

The urban air mobility (UAM) industry is not short on bullish projections about anticipated demand for air taxi services provided by new eVTOL aircraft. But has anyone asked the as-yet unproven market’s prospective customers what they want?

The Demand and Capacity Optimisation for U-Space (DACUS) project last week published a concept of operations focused mainly on how drones will be integrated into urban airspace and provided with ground infrastructure. While much of the report discusses smaller unmanned aircraft, the group, which is backed by Eurocontrol’s Single European Sky ATM Research (Sesar) venture, has also addressed the needs of larger manned aircraft, including eVTOL air taxis.

Critics of eVTOL aircraft developer Volocopter commonly point to what they say are excessively limited applications for its all-electric VoloCity model, which, initially, will carry a pilot plus one passenger on short, largely urban, trips of up to 22 miles. Eventually, the company expects the multicopter to be approved for autonomous operations, freeing up a second revenue-generating seat, but, until battery technology takes a big leap forward, range will still be limited to short hops.

There are almost as many opinions about the potential size of the advanced air mobility market as there are eVTOL aircraft designs. They all seem to err on the bullish side and a new prognosis published by UK-based IDTechEx is no exception, with a headline projection that the market for air taxi applications alone will be worth $14.7 billion annually by 2041.