Recent Updates

NASA has announced that it is opening the International Space Station (ISS) to commercial businesses. To qualify for a spot on the ISS, the agency says commercial activities must show that they require the station’s unique microgravity environment, have a connection to NASA’s mission or support the development of a “sustainable low-Earth orbit economy.” The […]

Boeing subsidiary Aurora Flight Science’s autonomous Passenger Air Vehicle (PAV) electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) prototype crashed during its fifth test flight, company spokespeople told several news outlets at the Uber Elevate Summit this week. No one was injured in the accident—the PAV was flying unmanned—and no damage beyond that sustained by the aircraft […]

Wait. What? These things aren’t flying cars. They just aren’t. Or are they? This is the little argument I had with myself yesterday while covering the Uber Elevate Summit in Washington, D.C., via remote streaming. During his introduction, Nikhil Goel, Uber’s head of product for Elevate, referred to these new air taxis as flying cars. […]

Slovenia-based Pipistrel Vertical Solutions threw its hat into the eVTOL ring Tuesday by revealing a multi-fan electric airplane with vertical takeoff and landing capability. At Uber’s Elevate Summit in Washington, D.C., Pipistrel unveiled the so-called 801 as a five-occupant winged aircraft capable of a 60-mile range at 175 MPH or more. The 801 has four […]

A devastating fire broke out at the manufacturing facility for Belite Aircraft late last week. The company produces the Chipper experimental and the UltraCub ultralight, as well as the Radiant instrument line.  According to company founder James Wiebe, “It appears that the fire started at our CNC router dust collection system. Intense smoke filled the building, […]

In an alternately inspirational and cautionary talk at Uber’s Elevate Summit in Washington, D.C., Tuesday, acting FAA chief Dan Elwell told the aspiring urban air taxi audience that he’s impressed with ideas and progress the industry has made. But, “When I put my FAA regulator hat on, I’ve got a whole new bucket of stuff […]

Uber is betting big that data it’s collecting from its ground-based ride-hailing app will drive the emerging urban air taxi market, but while we’re waiting for the aircraft, beginning this summer, UberCopter will launch in limited round-trip service between downtown Manhattan and JFK Airport. The service will be provided by Part 135-operator HeliFlite using conventional […]

Embraer, though its EmbraerX “disruptive business subsidiary,” announced the eVTOL at today’s Uber Elevate Summit. The 10-motor electric VTOL concept promises urban mobility through vertical takeoff and landing capabilities and is ready for future autonomous flight. “As a market accelerator committed to developing solutions to transform life’s experiences, we have been combining human-centered design thinking […]

In what would become the second-largest company in the defense and aerospace sector, Raytheon and United Technologies are set to merge and become Raytheon Technologies, where it will compete against Boeing (the largest firm in the field) and Lockheed Martin in commercial aviation and defense. Reports are that the company would be valued in excess […]

It’s a beautiful morning and you just received a standard pilot weather briefing for a long cross-country flight—one that covers a day full of activity. The skies are calm, clear and worry-free right now, but the forecast indicates possible turbulence, icing or storm activity later in the day while you still expect to be in […]