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2024 is proving to be a watershed year for China as it advances its low-altitude economy in preparation for the integration of electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft operations.
This summer, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Aircraft Certification Service’s Policy and Standards Division (AIR-600) released two documents for electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. Because the FAA changed course in May 2022 — turning away from its anticipated plan to certificate winged eVTOL aircraft as Part 23 airplanes with special conditions for vertical flight (see “FAA Changes Course on eVTOL Certification,” Vertiflite, July/Aug 2022) — the agency is working on creating the necessary regulations to certificate both winged and wingless eVTOL aircraft.
On June 10, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) both announced progress in their efforts to streamline and standardize the certification of electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft and other new designs.
On May 16, US President Joe Biden signed legislation to provide the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) with its latest five-year mandate and to fund the agency for fiscal years 2024–2028, with more than $105B for the FAA and $738M for the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) during those years.
On March 8, US President Joe Biden signed legislation that temporarily extended the operating authority for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) until May 10. The bill, HR.7454, the Airport and Airway Extension Act of 2024, is the third time Congress extended the FAA’s authority since September, the end of fiscal year 2023 (FY23), when the FAA’s operating authority expired.
Recent months have seen the leading developers of electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft make big strides in their efforts to develop their advanced air mobility (AAM) vehicles.
On Dec. 11, the US House of Representatives passed legislation that would extend the deadline to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) until March 8, 2024.
On Nov. 1, the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) announced that it had selected four companies — Aurora Flight Sciences, Bell, Northrop Grumman and Piasecki Aircraft — to design prototypes for a high-speed vertical takeoff and landing (HSVTOL) X-Plane.
The US Air Force and Army awarded contracts to multiple firms to develop heavy-lift vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) drones.
Odys Aviation is developing a multi-role uncrewed VTOL UAS, according to a Nov. 30 report by Future Flight.
