Recent Updates

During an online roundtable on July 17, Joby Aviation founder and CEO JoeBen Bevirt recalled his pathway to becoming involved in electric vertical takeoff and land (eVTOL) aircraft. He sees the present as a time of converging transformational technologies that he believes will make aviation “dramatically more relevant to our daily lives and more impactful […]

Former astronaut Gen. Joe Engle died July 10 at the age of 91. Engle was an accomplished Air Force pilot with the distinction of flying two different winged spacecraft, the X-15 and the Space Shuttle. Beyond that he flew 185 aircraft and accumulated 15,400 hours, including the first operational shuttle flight and another later on. […]

On Friday, Southwest Airlines and Archer Aviation announced plans to develop electric air taxi service at California airports. In a press release, the two companies said they signed a memorandum of understanding laying out the foundation for integrated electric air taxi networks that would support California airports and surrounding communities. Archer’s Midnight electric vertical takeoff […]

SpaceX’s ubiquitous Falcon 9 rockets have been grounded after one malfunctioned while attempting to deliver a batch of internet satellites into orbit on Thursday night. The launch, which occurred around 10:30 p.m. local time at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, is a rare mishap for SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, which routinely flies NASA astronauts […]

Joby announced earlier this week it has successfully completed a 523-statute-mile (454 nm) flight of its hydrogen-electric concept aircraft. The remotely-piloted flight occurred on June 24 over Marina, California, and included vertical takeoff and landing capability. The hydrogen-electric variant of Joby’s electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft is designed as a complement to the […]

Plans to break ground on a new Las Vegas airport are progressing following the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA’s) recent approval of the project. Las Vegas Executive Airport will be located some 30 miles southwest of Harry Reid International Airport and will accommodate single-engine, multi-engine and rotorcraft operations. Clark County Commissioners unanimously approved runway construction for […]

What does the financial industry think of the current state of the Urban Air Mobility movement and prospects for a successful eVTOL (electronic Vertical Takeoff and Landing) company? Advisors at The Motley Fool (TMV) compared the growth potential of investing in Archer Aviation, developer of the Midnight eVTOL hopeful, with prospects for making a killing […]

The German Aerospace Center (German acronym DLR) is set to begin expanding drone operations at the National Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) this month at Cochstedt Airport south of Magdeburg, Germany. The operations will be conducted in a geo-zone, defined by German aviation authorities as airspace where drone operations are controlled, restricted or even […]

Archer Aviation, developer of the Midnight electric vertical takeoff and land (eVTOL) aircraft, has announced an infrastructure memorandum of understanding (MoU) with FBO chain Signature Flight Support. Under the agreement, Archer would secure takeoff and landing sites for its aircraft at more than 200 Signature locations, many located in major metropolitan areas, including New York-area […]

Archer Aviation announced today it completed the first successful transition flight of its Midnight electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft on June 8. In transitioning from vertical takeoff mode to wing-borne flight, the six front-facing electric motors tilt forward as it picks up speed to power the aircraft like a conventional fixed-wing aircraft. As […]