FutureFlight

Airflow's fixed-wing hybrid-electric short takeoff and landing aircraft is expected to be able to operate from runways as short as 150 to 200 feet when it enters service in 2025. The company says that it now has an order book worth more than $200 million, including commitments for 50 aircraft from U.S. regional airline Ravn Alaska. The aircraft will be powered by a hybrid-electric propulsion system developed by VerdeGo Aero.

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Electra’s Model 200 hybrid-electric short takeoff and landing aircraft will be operated by a single pilot and carry up to seven passengers on regional services. Using the company's "blown lift" technology, the aircraft will be able to take off and land at speeds as low as 30 mph, meaning that it will be able to operate from little more than 100 feet of runway. Electra aims to start flight testing a technology demonstrator before the end of 2021.

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Eve Urban Air Mobility Solutions, which is a subsidiary of Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer, now has two launch customers for its four-passenger eVTOL aircraft. Brazilian helicopter operator Helisul Aviation says that it intends to operate up to 50 of the all-electric model in air taxi service, as does OneSky Flight's new Halo division. The partners intend to start early proof-of-concept operations using Helisul's existing helicopter fleet.

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Eviation is preparing to conduct a first flight with its nine-seat, all-electric Alice aircraft before the end of 2023. It recently took delivery of the electric propulsion system provided by MagniX, and now it has the first set of integrated wings, empennage, and wiring from another key program partner, GKN Aerospace.

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Cavorite flying over clouds - 300 dpi

Astro has acquired Canadian start-up Horizon Aircraft in return for an initial five million of its shares. Now the company is looking to raise $25 million in fresh investment to fund the development of the Cavorite X5 model as it prepares for a listing on the Nasdaq stock market in the third quarter of 2021.

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EHang conducted a public flight demonstration with its EH216 eVTOL aircraft during a public event in Japan's Okayama prefecture as part of its efforts to build public and official support for advanced air mobility services. The Chinese company said it is being assisted by an unnamed local partner.

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0603-hanwha-system-skyports-MOU-image

Skyports and Hanwha Systems anticipate a large worldwide market for advanced air mobility infrastructure services, which includes development of vertiports and drone delivery services. Seoul-based Hanwha pans to offer these services globally as well as in South Korea.

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On the Radar
Indians and Brazilians Identified as Most Likely Advanced Air Mobility Early Adopters

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.

This is the core question addressed by the new report Up in the air: How do consumers view advanced air mobility prepared by the aerospace and defense research team at McKinsey, the management consulting firm. During March they surveyed around 4,800 transportation consumers in the U.S., Brazil, China, Germany, India, and Poland about attitudes toward using eVTOL aircraft for passenger and freight delivery operations.

The survey asked respondents to consider six people-moving use cases including commuting to and from work; runnings errands; business travel; short-distance leisure travel (e.g., trips to movie theaters); long-distance leisure travel (e.g., visiting family members in other cities); and trips to and from airports.

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Supersonic

As the debate continues as to what, if any, part supersonic flight has in the future of air transportation, AIN's editorial team considered the implications of Aerion's recent, and largely unexpected, collapse. This video considers the reasons Aerion had to give up on plans to produce an AS2 supersonic business jet plus the almost-hypersonic AS3 airliner. The company had planned alliances in the advanced air mobility space, including with eSTOL aircraft developer Electra. We also discussed what's left of the supersonic dream, and the extent to which Boom may now be the main standard-bearer. 

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Featured Program

Electra aims to have an initial seven-passenger version of its planned hybrid-electric short takeoff and landing aircraft ready to enter service before the end of 2026.

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Featured Person
Marc Ausman
 

Marc Ausman is one of five co-founders of California-based startup Airflow, which in June 2020 announced it is developing an eSTOL aircraft. He was formerly chief strategist for Airbus's Vahana eVTOL technology demonstration program. Prior to that, he held positions including COO at Yuneec, president of Vertical Power, and a director of very light jet developer Eclipse Aviation.

Ausman is a former Naval flight officer with the U.S. Navy and holds an MBA from the University of Texas Austin and a bachelor of science degree from Cal Poly.

He is a board member of the Experimental Aircraft Association.

UPCOMING EVENTS
 
September 7 - 8, 2021 / Farnborough, GB

Farnborough International will stage the 2021 edition of the new Global Urban & Advanced Air Mobility Summit at the Farnborough air show site in the UK on September 7-8, 2021.

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