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With an eye towards launching operations by the middle of the decade, leading developers of electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft are pressing hard and making demonstrable progress towards certification and beginning advanced air mobility (AAM) operations.
The biennial Farnborough International Airshow, held in England on July 18–22, provided a few of the leading electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) developers a high-profile stage for a flurry of announcements.
In the seven and a half years since the Vertical Flight Society (VFS) held its first Transformative Vertical Flight (TVF) symposium on electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft in 2014, the electrification of the air transport industry has become a global movement touching almost every aviation segment and continent including Asia.
Transformative Vertical Flight (TVF) 2022 was held Jan. 25–27, with some 375 participants in San Jose, California, and another 200 attendees online, in the first hybrid event organized by VFS.
On Jan. 20, Overair announced that it had commenced its ground test program to evaluate the full-scale propulsion system for the Butterfly eVTOL quad tiltrotor aircraft in the desert northeast of Los Angeles.
Last year, VFS helped establish a working group — connected through the VFS Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing (eVTOL) Technical Committee and working with other professional societies — to advance the conversation on flight testing this new class of aircraft.
At a VFS webinar for the eVTOL Writers Group on Aug. 11, Santa Ana, California-based Overair, LLC, unveiled the revised configuration of its Butterfly eVTOL aircraft.
Seoul, Korea-based Aju Business Daily posted a story on March 29 reporting that Overair — which is 30% owned by Hanwha Systems — will be testing the electric propulsion system of its Butterfly quad-tiltrotor eVTOL this summer.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government co-hosted an event with the Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) on Nov. 11 to highlight AAM in Korea. Guangzhou, China-based EHang brought six examples of its two-seat EH216 autonomous aerial vehicle (AAV) and conducted unmanned flights of the 1,435-lb (650-kg) eVTOL, according to Yonhap News Agency. In addition, Korean industrial giants Hyundai and Hanwha displayed one-third-scale models of their vectored-thrust eVTOL designs.
With his team of engineers and product developers in Santa Ana, California, Overair CEO Ben Tigner aims to apply Abe Karem’s optimum speed VTOL propulsion technology to urban air mobility (UAM). “Overair is a spinoff of Karem Aircraft, although its business goals are totally different,” he explained.
