Recent Updates

The Air Force is having a look at how it might use eVTOLs and is starting with who’s best for the flight deck. It’s hired Massachusetts consulting company Aptima to figure out what an Air Force eVTOL pilot might look like. “The learnability study will help us not only understand the baseline pilot skills and competencies […]

Bristow group has placed a firm order with electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) developer BETA Technologies for five ALIA-250 eVTOL aircraft. The order also includes options for 50 additional ALIA aircraft. BETA says the ALIA-250 design, which completed its first interstate flight last year, will seat a pilot and five passengers, carry a 1,400-pound […]

I have often written that before you start building an airplane, you should set your requirements: What is the airplane designed to do? What design satisfies that goal? How does it need to be equipped to perform that mission? Once you have decided on a project for a specific mission, it is important to keep those […]

Keen to show off their new High-Wing variation of the well-regarded low-wing TSi, South African airframer Sling has done so in spectacular fashion by flying the prototype and production serial numbers one and two from Johannesburg, South Africa, to Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The trio landed at AirVenture yesterday afternoon. The epic jaunt was flown in daylight in legs up […]

With tensions over the war in Ukraine and economic strains caused by sanctions, Russia announced Tuesday that it will withdraw from the International Space Station after 2024. The head of the Russian space agency Roscosmos said the company will instead pursue building its own orbital station. “We will fulfill all our obligations to our partners, […]

The Sling High Wing is evolutionary and revolutionary at the same time. It’s an entirely new concept for low-wing-producing Sling Aircraft. According to Sling Aircraft founder and chief designer Mike Blythe, the High Wing stemmed from a request by an older, less flexible and larger customer who said, “If you build a high-wing airplane that […]

A southwest U.S. company has placed firm orders, backed by deposits, for five hybrid-powered Ampaire Eco Caravans for use on its California, Arizona and Nevada routes. Wing Tips also has an option for another 20 Caravans and 50 of the 19-seat Twin Otter conversions that will follow the Caravan into production. Wing Tips will use […]

Electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft developer Lilium announced at the Farnborough International Airshow that it has formed a strategic partnership with vertical flight solutions company Bristow. The arrangement, outlined in a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU), includes plans for Bristow to purchase 50 Lilium eVTOL jets and provide Part 145 maintenance services for […]

Plenty of airlines have made announcements about getting involved in the urban mobility market, but industry newsletter TransportUp says American is the first to actually put some skin in the game. Last year, American said it would buy up to 250 Vertical Aerospace VX4 eVTOLs but like all of those other deals it was PR. […]

Advanced air mobility (AAM) company AIR announced on Tuesday that its AIR ONE electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) prototype has successfully completed its first series of hover tests. The company reports that the aircraft’s systems functioned as designed and its energy use was as predicted throughout the two weeks of testing. AIR says it […]