The German car manufacturer Porsche has been evaluating the VTOL field for more than 4 years. Up until now Porsche Engineering Group, located near company headquarters in Stuttgart, has been leading the program. During this time there was a cooperation with the US Company Boeing, which appears to have since been discontinued. Until now only a few design studies have been published. Everything else has happened under the radar.
Now the Porsche Group is taking the next step. On March 28, 2022, the automotive company formally founded the P3X Management GmbH (limited Corporation) in Munich under the registration number: HRB 274681. CEOs of the new company are Guan Chew Ph.D. and Philip Kastel. Chew was Head of Technical Research at the Porsche Engineering Group. It’s rumored that the company may be planing to start developing its vehicles at the research airport Oberpfaffenhofen just west of Munich.
There are some images circulating on the Chinese social media which are claimed to be the patent application of HT Aero for a roadable eVTOL flying car, i.e. a vehicle with both driving and flying functions.
The design in the images appears to be a tilt-rotor configuration with wings. There is no further detail about the folding mechanism.
HT Aero is an eVTOL startup based in Guangzhou, China. HT Aero was acquired by the Chinese electric car company Xpeng in 2020 and revealed a design concept of a roadable eVTOL flying car last year as shown below. HT Aero plans to begin sale of this flying car in 2024 for a projected price tag of one million RMB (157,000 USD or 143,000 euro)
SkyDrive and Suzuki to collaborate on eVTOL
On 22 March 2021 the Japanese eVTOL startup SkyDrive and Suzuki Motor Corporation jointly announced a partnership for the commercialization of the eVTOL developed by SkyDrive.
SkyDrive and Suzuki will start consideration to collaborate in areas of business and technology that include technology R&D, planning of manufacturing and mass-production systems, development of overseas markets with an initial focus on India which is the major market for Suzuki Motor, and promotion of efforts to attain carbon neutrality.
SkyDrive was founded in 2018. The companay has been test flying its SD-03 single-seat multicopter eVTOL prototype since at least 2020 and aims to begin air taxi service during the 2025 World Exposition in Osaka, Japan, as well as to initiate service in other regions of Japan.
In Japan, the Public-Private Council for Air Mobility Revolution was established in 2018 with meetings held since then. The project is expected to lead to taxi services in urban areas, new means of transportation for remote islands and mountainous areas, and emergency transportation in times of disaster. A roadmap has been formulated by the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism (MLIT) for the start of business in 2023 and full-scale deployment in 2030.
SD-03 single-seat eVTOL developed by SkyDrive
Textron to acquire Pipistrel
Pipistrels first electric trainer de Alpha Electro is sold around the world
PROVIDENCE USA – AJDOVŠČINA SLOVENIA. — Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT), home to the Cessna, Beechcraft, and Bell aviation brands, today announced it has entered into an agreement to purchase Pipistrel, an award-winning pioneer and global leader in electrically powered aircraft. “Pipistrel puts Textron in a uniquely strong position to develop technologies for the sustainable aviation market and develop a variety of new aircraft to meet a wide range of customer missions,” said Textron Chairman and CEO Scott Donnelly. “Today’s announcement supports Textron’s long-term strategy to offer a family of sustainable aircraft for urban air mobility, general aviation, cargo and special mission roles.”
Pipistrel founder and CEO Ivo Boscarol will remain a minority shareholder as well as Chairman Emeritus, consulting on future product plans and strategies for a two-year period. “Under my 30-year leadership, Pipistrel’s team has achieved a unique prime position in personal, affordable, environmentally friendly and electric aviation. The trend and foundation for future projects has clearly been set,” said Boscarol. “To drive Pipistrel’s ambitious goals and to continue its story of success, the joining of Textron and Pipistrel provides deep expertise and resources which would otherwise be inaccessible to Pipistrel alone. „
H2FLY starts passenger flights with fuel cell aircraft
H2FLY the company of Hydrogen aviation pioneer Prof. Dr.-Ing. Josef Kallo started a new area with its Hy4 Aircraft as a new milestone in aviation for the first time passengers will be flown in a fuel cell Aircraft. #H2FLY started a test campaign from March to May 2022 using emission free hydrogen electric passenger aircraft integrated in daily operations at the international Airport of Stuttgart. First evaluation shows full operation flexibility on ground and with ATC and low noise flight operation.
27. – 30. April 2022–The Leading Show for General Aviation
Whisper Aero Unveiled the First Product–An Electric Drone
Whisper Aero, the electric aviation startup founded by the eVTOL veteran and former exectutive of Uber Elevate Mark Moore, unveiled their first product at the Heli-Expo in Dallas, US–an electric drone named „Whisper Drone“.
Whisper Drone
The Tennessee-based company said the the drone is designed to be very quite and highly efficient, is intended for intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance (ISR) use, and has finished validation testing for the Pentagon. Based on validation testing, the US Air Force has awarded Whisper Aero two contracts totaling $1.5 million to further the project development. The company did not yet specify any further details of the drone.
Mark Moore set up Whisper Aero in 2020 to pursue ultra-quiet and efficient electric propulsion for aviation use. Besides Whisper Drone, the company is developing Whisper Jet, a regional electric airplane. The company has raised at least $7.5 millions USD according to public report before winning the research contracts of the US Air Force this time.
AutoFlight’s „Prosperity I“ eVTOL Prototype Achieves Transition Test Flight
AutoFlight today announced the successful completion of the transition test flight of the proof-of-concept eVTOL prototype named „Prosperity I“ , in which the aircraft switches from a vertical take-off motion to the more energy efficient, horizontal flight and back to vertical flight, before landing. The successful transition test flight was achieved in January 2022. The unmanned flight, which took place at Autoflight flight test area in JiangSu province, China with CEO Tian Yu, the R&D team and 40 AutoFlight staff present, while Prosperity I rose to an altitude of 150 meters at speeds of up to 123 mph (196km/h).
Footage of the transition test flight:
Prosperity I was designed for short transfers between parts of a city, airport commutes, connecting two nearby cities or enabling trips to the countryside while avoiding traffic on the ground. Autoflight expect it to be ready for commercial flight in 2025.
A ‘transition’ is when an aircraft moves from a vertical to horizontal motion and is one of the most challenging parts of an eVTOL flight. Vertical flight for the proof of concept for Prosperity I required eight rotors to lift the 3,307 pounds, including four-person, state-of-the-art electric aircraft into the air. Once the aircraft reached an altitude of 150 meters and the airspeed of 100-110mph the fixed wing part of the eVTOL generated lift. At this point, Prosperity I entered the complex transition phase – the rotors on the top stopped spinning and locked in a streamlined position, whilst the propellers on the rear pushed the aircraft forward like a traditional fixed wing plane.
AutoFlight CEO Tian Yu, who has over two decades of experience designing and building electric aircraft, and 300 electric aviation-related patents, said:
“The team and I are thrilled to have cracked the smooth transition phase of eVTOL flight, unlocking the skies for Prosperity I and our commercial products. We were confident we had a good design underpinned by sound engineering, and delighted to see that the transition was smooth, safe and seamless.”
Mark Henning, Managing Director of AutoFlight Europe said:
“Achieving a smooth transition phase in record time, from prototype to flight. Underlines the caliber of the engineering team we have at AutoFlight and gives great confidence as we progress into the development phase and layout plans for our first manned aircraft, the Prosperity I. The simplicity of AutoFlight’s design lies in our patented ‘Lift and Cruise’ configuration, which combines superior range and safety with low technical complexity, making it affordable to manufacture, maintain and operate as an air taxi.”
The milestone is the latest of significant recent developments for AutoFlight including the establishment of a European base in Augsburg, Germany, the appointment of Mark Henning (formerly of Airbus) as its European Managing Director, as well as $100 million investment from next-generation mobility investor Team Global.
Tecnam P2010 H3PS Hybrid Electric Prototype Made First Flight
The Tecnam P2010H3PS parallel hybrid electric powered airplane, developed jointly by Tecnam, Rolls Royce and Rotax, made the first flight on December 21st, 2021, at precisely 3:54 pm CET. The Permit to Fly was issued by ENAC, the Italian Civil Aviation Authority.
This is the first General Aviation aircraft with a parallel hybrid configuration to take flight.
H3PS hybrid electric airplane is based on P2010 of Tecnam
The flight was performed by Tecnam’s Chief Experimental Test Pilot Lorenzo De Stefano, with Tecnam, Rolls-Royce and Rotax Teams on the ground assisting in this historic moment.
Tecnam P2010 H3PS is powered by a 104kW Rotax 915 IS engine coupled with a 30kW Rolls-Royce electric motor, totaling 134kW (180hp) powertrain in a fully integrated parallel hybrid configuration. As such, this four-seat aircraft is first of its kind.
H3PS, which stands for “High Power High Scalability Aircraft Hybrid Powertrain”, is a project funded under the European Union Horizon 2020 research and innovation program. Launched in 2018, the project has reached its objectives. With H3PS’ success, Tecnam Aircraft and project partners have validated the aircraft’s scalability potential, lower emissions, state of the art power management technology, building a viable launchpad for future green aircraft models.
Eviation’s founder and CEO Left
On 14 Feburary 2021 the founder and former CEO of Eviation Aircraft Omer Bar-Yohay annouced that he is „stepping down from my position as CEO after a long-standing disagreement with the company’s main shareholder.“
Eviation has been developing the full electric-powered 9-seat „Alice“ commuter electric airplane which began high speed taxiing test and is planned to make the first flight later this year.
It is noteworthy that the former chairman of Eviation and the founder and former CEO of MagniX Roei Ganzarski has also left the position in both companies last month. Both Eviation and MagniX have the major shareholder of Singapore-based Clermont Group.
Alice electric commuter airplane prototype developed by Eviation
2022 Transformative Vertical Flight meeting began today
The Transformative Vertical Flight 2022 meeting, organized by Vertical Flight Society (VFS), will take place Jan. 25-27, 2022 in San Jose, California, with an „air taxi“ aircraft display on Friday, Jan. 28.
The meeting this year includes two events:
Aeromechanics for Advanced Vertical Flight which provides a forum for technical paper presentations on emerging aeromechanics challenges and solution methods for future vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft, encompassing dynamics, aerodynamics, acoustics and flight mechanics.
9th Annual Electric VTOL Symposium which includes invited presentations from leaders in this exciting field. This event is an excellent opportunity to learn about and discuss the latest advancements in eVTOL, and the challenges that still remain. Willi Tacke from Flying Pages GmbH will present the update of eVTOL policymaking and market development in Europe and Asia on Jan. 25.
