FutureFlight

It would seem that Archer’s legal team has been browsing The Art of War by ancient Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu. “Attack is the secret of defense,” he wrote back in the fifth century B.C., or, as it is commonly paraphrased in English, “Attack is the best form defense.”

EASA this week launched another round of consultation on its proposed means of compliance (MOC) for its Special Condition for VTOL aircraft type certification. The European aviation safety agency published the second version of its consultation document and is giving interested parties until Aug. 30, 2021, to submit comments.

Aircraft engine makers like Rolls-Royce know full well they are in the front lines in responding to growing pressure to achieve net-zero carbon levels in aviation. Acknowledging that they are widely seen as part of aviation’s environmental impact problem, they are being increasingly more visible in signaling their intent to be part of the solution.

SAE International, the global industry association focused on establishing engineering standards in the mobility sector, has proposed new guidance for companies developing electric propulsion systems for aircraft. The group’s E-40 Committee on Electrified Propulsion has just published its ARP8689 Endurance Tests for Aircraft Electric Engines document on the durability and integrity testing for new electric engines.

Assessments of the task facing companies seeking type certification for eVTOL aircraft seem to sit at both ends of a wide spectrum. They either make it appear like a steep mountain to climb with near-insurmountable obstacles on the ascent or a proverbial walk in the park on a fast track towards achieving revenue flights in record time.

A relentless flow of research reports keeps predicting vast market opportunities in the nascent advanced air mobility (AAM) sectors. Much of the envisaged demand hinges on what is generally regarded as the inevitable public acceptance of eVTOL air taxi services. But less than three years away from the anticipated launch of early commercial operations, relatively little attention seems to have been given to asking prospective passengers how they feel about this prospect.

The top line of NASA’s first budget request under the Biden Administration signals the organization’s clear intent to embrace the new American president’s commitment to achieving environmental sustainability. Under the heading “addressing the climate crisis at home and abroad,” NASA's financial year 2022 budget request confirms its plan for a Sustainable Flight National Partnership to develop “highly efficient” aircraft and to support new academic-led research into zero-emissions aviation.

In its formal response to Wisk Aero’s allegations of intellectual property theft, Archer Aviation’s legal team this week told the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California that there is no case to answer. Archer's 62-page document, filed on June 1, argues that the plaintiff has failed to detail and provide clear evidence that it stole trade secrets for the design of its four-passenger eVTOL aircraft, “despite page after page of reckless innuendo and rank speculation.”

On July 7, William H. Orrick, judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, is due to hear a lawsuit in which an eVTOL aircraft developer is accusing a rival of stealing its design. While it might not be the first lawsuit of its kind in the emerging advanced air mobility (AAM) sector, the one brought by Wisk Aero against Archer Aviation stands to be the highest-profile case so far in the gold rush subculture of start-ups racing to be the first to market.

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) this week published the findings from a survey of public attitudes toward urban air mobility (UAM). The study polled 4,000 citizens in six European metropolitan areas via a quantitative survey, and also included 40 more in-depth interview qualitative interviews, as well as a simulation of aircraft noise.