- FAA
EVTOL / ADVANCED / URBAN AIR MOBILITY (UAM / AAM)
AIRBUS | MAGICALL
Airbus selected the latest iteration of MAGicALL's MAGiDRIVE electric motors for use in the their CityAirbus NextGen eVTOL aircraft. The lightweight units reportedly house both motor and control system in a single "fully enclosed, air-cooled propulsion unit". The companies previously collaborated on the now defunct Vahana experimental prototype eVTOL aircraft:
(via Airbus).
JOBY AVIATION | TMAP MOBILITY
Joby Aviation announced a partnership with TMAP Mobility for aerial ridesharing in the South Korean Market, effectively extending the scope of a deal made with SK Group (one of the country's largest chaebol) subsidiary SK Telecom in February. SK's corporate venturing arm SK Square are investors in TMAP.
Both Joby and TMAP have also received financial investments from Uber, and will seek to leverage the local 'UT' ride hailing app - that TMAP and Uber co-own / operate - to maximum effect.
South Korean ride-hailing market leaders are presently Kakao Mobility - who announced a partnership with Volocopter in December:
(via Joby Aviation).
JOBY AVIATION
Joby Aviation announced Q1 '22 results (shareholder letter here, earnings webcast here), highlights included a $62.3m net loss for the quarter on operating expenses of $94.3m, with $1.2 billion on hand.
The majority of large composite parts for the company's production intent aircraft were manufactured Q1, as was the first "design-intent Electric Propulsion Unit" which has undergone 600+ hours of testing. Joby claimed to have 80% of their means of compliance agreed with the FAA (via Joby Aviation).
JOBY AVIATION | NASA
Joby released results of acoustic testing of their aircraft conducted together with NASA, whose 'Mobile Acoustics Facility' placed a grid array of microphones at Joby's facility in California. The aircraft was shown to have met the "revolutionary" low noise targets, that the company themselves set:
(via Joby Aviation).
FAA
Debate about changes to the FAA's certification regime for eVTOL aircraft swirled, following a reported change in direction at the US regulator.
Exactly what is changing remains unclear. It appears as though a shift is underway from a lighter touch "performance-based" pathway to certification under the FAA's Part 23 regulations to a new "special class" that would incorporate eVTOL and other "powered-lift" aircraft in a sub-category of their own. Reuters reported that the FAA was:
"...modifying its regulatory approach because regulations designed for traditional airplanes and helicopters "did not anticipate the need to train pilots to operate powered-lift, which take off in helicopter mode, transition into airplane mode for flying, and then transition back to helicopter mode for landing."
(via The Air Current, AOPA, FutureFlight, Reuters, Transport UP).
EVE URBAN AIR MOBILITY
Embraer subsidiary Eve Urban Air Mobility successfully completed a SPAC merger with Zanite Acquisition Corp during a particularly turbulent time for global financial markets. Common stock for the combined entity is now listed on the NYSE under the ticker $EVEX.
"The closing of the business combination generated $377 million of gross proceeds, which will be used to accelerate the development, certification and commercialization of Eve’s comprehensive UAM solution":
(via Eve Urban Air Mobility).
DAEDALEAN | EMBRAER | EVE URBAN AIR MOBILITY | HELISUL | IRIS AUTOMATION | NEAR EARTH AUTONOMY
Meanwhile Eve's partner Embraer conducted a series of test flights in Rio de Janeiro "evaluating new autonomous system technologies in real flight conditions" using a perception system featuring seven cameras and one lidar sensor. Partners on the week long project included Daedalean, Helisul, Iris Automation and Near Earth Autonomy:
(via Eve Urban Air Mobility).
BLADE AIR MOBILITY
Blade Air Mobility reported Q1 results, highlights included the establishment of a European subsidiary, a net loss of $11m on revenue of $26.6m and the onboarding of 14 new organ transportation clients (the MediMobility segment accounting for some $22.1m of that revenue). The company attributed a $2.7m increase in staff costs in part to "new hires to support the Company becoming public" (via Blade).
AIR MOBILITY INITIATIVE | AIRBUS
Airbus announced a new, wide-ranging aerial mobility programme in Germany that will conduct "a series of research projects aimed at making urban air mobility within and between cities a reality." The three focus areas of the project are:
Electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft - led by Airbus and Diehl Aerospace alongside the University of Stuttgart
Unmanned traffic management (UTM) services - which includes Airbus, Droniq, f.u.n.k.e. Avionics, Deutsche Flugsicherung (DFS), Deutsche Telekom and Hamburg University of Technology
Airport & city integration including vertiports - with Bauhaus Luftfahrt, Deutsche Bahn, Munich and Nuremberg Airports and the Technical University of Munich
Other partners named, but whose areas of participation are left unspecified include the German military's Bundeswehr University Munich, the Fraunhofer research Institute, defence contractor Hensoldt as well as vertiport developers Skyports:
(via Airbus).
ASTRONICS
Aerospace and defence industry suppliers Astronics Corporation have adapted their CorePower products to offer 950VDC to 28VDC high voltage power conversion products specifically optimised for use in electric and / or eVTOL aircraft applications. The company's offerings include "high voltage/high current solid state switching devices, for both uni- and bi-directional power distribution" (via Astronics).
NASA AERONAUTICS
The NASA Aeronautics Langley Research Center shared video footage of their modular eVTOL technology testbed / flying laboratory - 'The Langley Aerodrome No. 8' or 'LA-8' - which is available to industry partners for wind tunnel testing and/or flight research activities:
(via NASA Langley Research Center).
VERTIPORTS / INFRASTRUCTURE
GS CALTEX | JEJU AIR | K-UAM GRAND CHALLENGE | KAKAO MOBILITY | LG UPLUS | PABLO AIR | VERTICAL AEROSPACE
Another consortium has emerged in South Korea - the K-UAM Grand Challenge - aimed at taking advantage of the future urban Air Mobility (UAM) market. Sitting under Seoul's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLI) and organised by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) the organisation will work alongside the previously announced 'UAM Team Korea'. Newly announced commercial participants of K-UAM include:
GS Caltex - oil refiner and filling station owner/operators - will secure vertiport locations from their national network of petrol stations
Kakao Mobility - mobility-as-a-service provider (and Volocopter partner) - will create "a vertiport solution for automatic check-ins and security of vertiports"
LG UPLUS - the South Korean mobile network operator - will establish the traffic management system
Jeju Air - South Korea's largest low-cost airline - will offer safe and reliable flight operations
Pablo Air - a drone services / logistics company - will establish a real-time control system
Vertical Aerospace - British eVTOL air taxi developer - to supply eVTOL aircraft
(via Business Korea, K-UAM, The Korea Herald).
EATON | PIPISTREL
NYSE listed (ETN) power management company Eaton (HQ in Ireland) appear to have provided extra details about their 22kW, 530-1,000VDC SKYCHARGE electric aircraft charger, produced in collaboration with Pipistrel.
Building on Eaton's existing range of ground vehicle charging stations, the SKYCHARGE is "Bidirectional Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) ready", EASA approved and features a proprietary "ultra-high power density (1.13 kg/kW)" power module:
(via Eaton).
AMPRIUS TECHNOLOGIES
Battery manufacturer Amprius Technologies announced their intention to float on the NYSE through a SPAC merger with Kensington Capital Acquisition Corp, in a deal they predict will value the combined entity at $939m, whilst providing up to $430m in new capital.
The company's silicon nanowire anode technology claims to improve lithium-ion battery performance, with cells shipped in Feb '22 to "an industry leader of a new generation of High-Altitude Pseudo Satellites (HAPS)" (rumoured to be Airbus) having a claimed power density of 450 Wh/kg (via Amprius).
SMALL PROPELLER, COMMUTER (19-SEATS OR LESS)
SHELL | ZEROAVIA
ZeroAvia announced the signing of an MoU with Shell (their corporate VC arm Shell Ventures are investors) that will see the energy conglomerate; "design and build two commercial-scale mobile refuelers for use at ZeroAvia’s research and development site in Hollister, California."
The deal also includes a hydrogen supply agreement for the Western US to support the flight test programme of the company's recently arrived second Dornier 228 airframe at Hollister:
(via ZeroAvia)
HYZON MOTORS | ZEROAVIA
US hydrogen fuel cell company Hyzon Motors (NASDAQ: HYZN) - to date focused predominantly on trucks - noted in their Q1 '22 reporting that they had "delivered fuel cell systems to ZeroAvia for aviation..." as well as to "another confidential [aviation] customer" (via Yahoo! Finance).
HYDROPLANE | USAF
California's Hydroplane picked up a second USAF small business tech transfer contract to support continued development of their 200kW, modular hydrogen fuel cell powertrain aimed at the Single Engine Piston (SEP) General Aviation (GA) market (via Hydroplane).
PIAGGIO AEROSPACE
Italy's Piaggio Aerospace are reported to be considering a clean sheet business aircraft featuring a hydrogen-electric powertrain according to comments attributed to CTO / Head of Design Antonio Sollo. The company allegedly considered and discarded both battery-electric and fuel cell conversions of their existing P180 twin turboprops as commercially unviable. The company is currently in administration (via FutureFlight).
REGIONAL AIRCRAFT / MW+
HAWAIIAN AIRLINES | REGENT
Hawaiian Airlines have invested an undisclosed sum into Regent to "support the initial design of its next generation 100-person capacity all-electric seaglider known as the Monarch" slated for entry into service by 2028:
(via Hawaiian Airlines, Regent).