The inevitable is occurring in the dead end space of Jetsons urban air mobility fantasies. Two more origami rotorcraft have left the vertiport for the great airplane graveyard in the sky as Volocopter disappears and Airbus drops its program. Volocopter was founded in 2011 in Bruchsal, Germany. Initially named e-Volo, … [continued]
One of the leading electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft companies in the world, EHang, recently completed a demo flight of its autonomous (pilot-free) EH216-S, which is capable of carrying human passengers, in downtown Shanghai. “It served as an excellent backdrop to demonstrate the exceptional capabilities in convenience, safety, … [continued]
Over the past few years tens of billions of dollars, enormous numbers of hours of aerospace engineers’ precious time, and countless articles have been wasted on the Jetsons fantasy of quiet, electric, folding aircraft taking off and descending vertically amidst the towers and homes of our cities. Now the US … [continued]
A couple of months ago, I wrote about Lilium running out of money. It seemed the dream had died. After 9 years and nearly 1,000 “preorders,” Lilium just couldn’t make it financially. It’s hard to get off the ground as a startup and reach profitability, even more so in an … [continued]
It’s been over three years since I bothered to publish an article on the dead end but glitzy space of urban air mobility with their origami electric vertical take-off and landing passenger aircraft. Instead, I focused my aviation related assessments on how aviation will actually decarbonize over the next few … [continued]
Electric air taxis are not going to take over transportation. In my humble opinion, our skies are not going to be full of small aircraft that look like giant bugs. We won’t have swarms of aircraft risking collision and devastating crashes into buildings. However, I do believe that electric air … [continued]
The eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) aircraft space isn’t for everyone. Some people are crazy about it (perhaps too crazy) and others think it’s as much of a dead end as flying cars were in the 1950s. Frankly, I don’t know where I stand, but I’m interested to see … [continued]
As I wrote a week ago, unfortunately, following some surprise obstacles getting financial support in Germany, Lilium had to file for insolvency. The electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft startup has been getting hype and praise for years, and even logged hundreds of orders this year and planning to … [continued]
It’s easy to think that electric aviation is something that’s happening tomorrow. Air taxis, eVTOL craft, rescue pods, aerial ambulances, and such are coming in the near future. Full-on cargo and passenger airliners might happen later when battery technology improves, but, as I’ve explained before, electric aviation is already here! … [continued]
I’m sure you’re all familiar with the workings of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and what it will need to do before electric air taxis become legal. Oh, yeah, of course — none of us are. However, news is that it has brought us a significant step forward with a … [continued]
