At the Paris Air Show, Paris, France-based startup Ascendance Flight Technologies unveiled its Atea hybrid-electric VTOL concept. Atea uses three lift fans powered by electric motors — one in each wing and a fan in the nose of the aircraft — plus a conventional turboprop in the nose. When the aircraft is cruising, the turbine engine charges the batteries for vertical take-offs and landings.
On June 7, New Future Transportation, Inc., (NTF) revealed its eVTOL drive-fly vehicle, ASKA, powered by 14 electric lift fans. ASKA means “flying bird” in Japanese, and NFT said, “it’s the first viable eVTOL vehicle that can both drive on the road and fly autonomously in the sky.” The company unveiled a large 4.9 ft x 8.2 ft (1.5 m x 2.5 m) model of the vehicle at the EcoMotion Event in Tel Aviv, Israel, June 10–13. NFT plans to fly a large (not quite full-scale) unmanned demonstrator vehicle in the first quarter of 2020.
Clark: Originally, there was a Lancair ES, which is a fixed-gear, four-seater aircraft. We thought the path we could go down was to modify that aircraft, apply for an experimental major modification, keep the original air worthiness certificate, and circumnavigate the airworthiness certification. That didn’t work. The FAA put the brakes on it, because we only used the glass, the doors and the very center section of the fuselage. They said it’s a fresh airplane: you have to do an airworthiness certificate.
The Vertical Flight Society co-sponsored the CAFE Foundation’s 13th Annual Electric Aircraft Symposium, held July 20-21, 2019, at University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. EAS 2019 was held in conjunction with the Experimental Aviation Association’s annual AirVenture in Oshkosh, July 22-28 (see eVTOL News from AirVenture).
Numerous staff and members of the Vertical Flight Society attended the Experimental Aviation Association's Annual AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, July 22-28, 2019.
VFS posted several photo galleries on Facebook (see links below) and tweeted live from Oshkosh on Twitter.
Lake Forest, Calif. – July 15, 2019 – Karem Aircraft, Inc, a Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) vehicle developer, has announced a new spin-off venture dedicated to bringing its all-electric air taxi vehicle, Butterfly, to market. The new company is backed by a $25M Series A investment led by Hanwha Systems.
Two dozen of the world’s leading electric aircraft developers and technology experts will be speaking at the CAFE Foundation’s 13th Annual Electric Aircraft Symposium (EAS) at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, on July 20-21 — the weekend prior to the Experimental Aircraft Association's (EAA) AirVenture 2019.
This year’s Paris Air Show (June 17-23, 2019) was packed with announcements — an entire industry boasting a more eco-friendly future for aviation worldwide.
Chief among those is the burgeoning Urban Air Mobility (UAM) market and the eVTOL platforms to serve it that are destined to fly within the next decade.
On May 29, Hopkinton, Massachusetts-based Alaka’i Technologies revealed a “non-flying prototype” of its hydrogen-powered Skai electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. The unveiling was held in Newbury Park, California, at the facilities of BMW-owned global creative consultancy Designworks, which was contracted for the vehicle design, with a focus on the passenger experience.
VFS members and staff attended the 53rd biennial Paris Air Show at the Paris–Le Bourget Airport, June 17–23.
VFS covered the event on social media, and posting photos and updates on Twitter and Facebook. In addition, VFS has created an album of more than 60 pictures from the event in the Vertical Flight Photo Gallery.
