Recent Updates

United Airlines announced on Wednesday that it will be working with urban air mobility (UAM) startup Archer to develop Archer’s electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. As part of the agreement, United says it will acquire a fleet of 200 Archer eVTOLs—an order worth an estimated $1 billion—once the aircraft is in operation and […]

Urban air mobility (UAM) company Joby Aviation announced on Wednesday that it will be outfitting its all-electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft with the Garmin G3000 integrated flight deck. According to Garmin, the touchscreen G3000 system will be adapted for Joby’s eVTOL “to optimize their air mobility service” along with facilitating future systems upgrades […]

The RATP Group, Groupe ADP and Choose Paris Region have selected 30 companies to participate in their Re.Invent Air Mobility Initiative. Chosen from a pool of 150 applications from 25 countries, each company will focus on one of five categories in the urban air mobility (UAM) sphere: vehicle development, urban infrastructure, operations, airspace integration and […]

This story originally appeared in KITPLANES. I didn’t buy this GlaStar intending to commit significant resources to the engine in the first year. Indeed, few of us intend to do that—but it happens. Who does that? But I always knew it was a possibility. My GlaStar’s Lycoming O-320-E3D, originally in a Piper Warrior, had seen […]

Shift4 Payments and Draken International founder Jared Isaacman has booked a trip with SpaceX that is being called “the world’s first all-civilian mission to space.” Named Inspiration4, the multi-day orbital flight is currently being planned for the fourth quarter of 2021. Isaacman, whose accomplishments as a pilot include two around-the-world speed records and over 100 […]

Electric aircraft developer Lilium has signed an agreement with multinational infrastructure operator Ferrovial to develop a network of at least ten “vertiports” for an all-electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL)-based air taxi service. According to Lilium, the network will cover “strategic locations in all major cities across Florida.” Exact locations for the vertiports planned in […]

NASA is observing its annual Day of Remembrance on Thursday, paying tribute to “members of the NASA family who lost their lives while furthering the cause of exploration and discovery.” As part of the event, NASA acting administrator Steve Jurczyk will lead a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Virginia’s Arlington […]

The FAA has allowed a Massachusetts company to conduct the first truly autonomous beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) drone operation in the National Airspace System (NAS), opening the door to a wide range of commercial applications. American Robotics is now allowed to fly drones weighing up to 20 pounds in rural areas without a […]

Throughout the 1980s, tandem two-seat homebuilt designs were firmly in the mainstream. Burt Rutan’s VariEze and Long-EZ were popular, and examples of Dick VanGrunsven’s RV-4 were showing up at Oshkosh in rapidly increasing numbers. Then came the RV-6, a side-by-side airplane that was destined to become the most successful kit airplane of all time. Everything […]

Cadillac appears to be taking its current marketing slogan (“Rise Above”) literally as it jumps into the eVTOL market with a quadrotor. The automaker’s parent company General Motors unveiled a video for the Consumer Electronics Show featuring a prototype single-seat design with a novel two-level arrangement for the rotors. It will be badged with the […]