The Electric VTOL News™, Vol 5, No 4, Mar 6, 2020
Welcome to our latest eVTOL eNewsletter! These emails are intended to keep you up to date with important news and events on electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. The Electric VTOL News™ is a free newsletter published twice monthly since 2016 by the Vertical Flight Society. Not a member? Join today to enjoy the many benefits of being part of the world's largest international vertical flight technology community.
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2nd Workshop on eVTOL Infrastructure for UAM
VFS is hosting a solution-focused Workshop on Infrastructure for Urban Air Mobility on March 17-18, 2020, at Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey (not far from the FAA Tech Center in Atlantic City or Philadelphia).
Check out our impressive workshop schedule overview, with speakers from the FAA, NASA, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, CAMI, Gannett Fleming, PS&S, Uber, VFS and more!
The Community Air Mobility Initiative (CAMI) is holding a separate "UAM 101" workshop for state and local decision makers on the afternoon before, March 16.
VFS has organized a tour of the FAA Technical Center for Thursday, March 19. Interested attendees will need to be at the FAA Visitors Center by 8:00 am as the tour will start and end there. More details can be found on our FAA Technical Center Tour description.
Note that this event and our Annual Forum have not been affected by COVID-19.
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March/April 2020 Vertiflite Now Online
The latest Vertiflite includes 40+ pages of eVTOL news! Members can log in and read all issues of Vertiflite for free. Non-members can read these selected eVTOL-related articles on eVTOL.news:
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Latest Headines
- EHang Obtained Permit from Civil Aviation Authority of Norway, EHang, March 5
- The Skyport — Latest Issue, Aviation Today, March 5
- Airbus Vahana Walkaround, eVTOL.com, March 4
- The NASA Aerospace 'Ninjas' helping Uber Elevate, Osinto, March 4
- CAMI: UAM Must Be for Public Good, AIN, March 4
- At Ohio Air Taxi Symposium, Policy Seen as Far Behind Technology, Aviation Today, March 3
- Toyota’s Hydrogen eVTOL, eVTOL.news, March 3
- NASA Signs 17 Space Act Agreements for Urban Air Mobility Grand Challenge, Aviation Today, March 3
- NASA announces first UAM Grand Challenge participants, eVTOL.com, March 3
- Lilium eVTOL prototype damaged in ground fire, eVTOL.com, Feb 28
- Flying Cars May Be Closer Than We Thought: Inside a New Plan to Make ‘Urban Air Mobility’ Happen, Robb Report, Feb 28
- Q&A with US Army’s Dr. Jaret Riddick, eVTOL.com, Feb 27
- Air Force launches eVTOL solicitation, eVTOL.com, Feb 26
- How software simulation can bring air taxis one step closer to reality, eVTOL.com, Feb 26
- EHang demonstrates medical transport applications in coronavirus response, eVTOL.com, Feb 26
- Vertical Aerospace Seraph (video), eVTOL.com, Feb 26
- Rideshare Provider Sees eVTOLs as Air Charter's Future, AIN, Feb 25
- Towards a new paradigm: composites in eVTOL, eVTOL.com, Feb 25
- EHang for Medical Emergency Transport, EHang press release, Feb 25
- US Air Force set to release eVTOL solicitation, eVTOL.com, Feb 22
- British Columbia Enacts Tax Exemption for Electric Aircraft, Aviation Today, Feb 21
- Air Force Pushes Ahead On ‘Flying Car’ Challenge, Breaking Defense, Feb 21
- Air Force to Begin Fly-Off, Certification Campaign for eVTOL Aircraft, Aviation Today, Feb 21
- Logistics provider DB Schenker among Volocopter Series C investors, eVTOL.com, Feb 21
- Aircraft, Big and Small, Are Changing Our Relationship With Flight, NY Times, Feb 20
- Bell developing fan-driven electric anti-torque system, Vertical, Feb 19
- Joby Aviation to continue testing, building air taxis at Marina Airport, KSBW8, Feb 19
- Experts highlight importance of crashworthiness in eVTOL design, eVTOL.com, Feb 19
- EASA Expects Certification of First AI for Aircraft Systems by 2025, Aviation Today, Feb 19
- Bell APT 70 drone flies beyond visual line of sight, eVTOL.com, Feb 19
- Advancing Aerial Mobility, National Academies , Feb 18
- Formula 1 car of the sky, The Daily Mail, Feb 18
- Volocopter and Grab to study air taxi deployment in Southeast Asia, eVTOL.com, Feb 18
- JAL and Bell explore urban air mobility in Asia, Flight Global, Feb 18
- ASX to work with Spirit AeroSystems on eVTOL production, eVTOL.com, Feb 17
- NASA seeks participation in UAM working groups, eVTOL.com, Feb 13
- Airbus partners with Singapore on UAM, eVTOL.com, Feb 12
- Is this the start of an aviation revolution?, BBC, Feb 11
- Moog builds on benefits of SureFly acquisition, Flight Global, Feb 11
- NASA Supply Chain Workshop, UAM AirInsight, Feb 11
- Bell teams with Sumitomo and Japan Airlines on air mobility, eVTOL.com, Feb 11
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Mark Your Calendars!
March 10-12, 2020 @ College Park, MD
NASA UAM Working Groups Kickoff Workshop
POSTPONED @ Addison, TX
2020 European-American Flight Forum
Held by the French-American Chamber of Commerce, Dallas / Ft Worth Chapter, focused on UAS and UAM.
March 14, 2020 @ Austin, TX
US Air Force Agility Prime Launch
March 16, 2020 @ Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ
CAMI UAM 101™
Designed to provide state and local decision makers with key information as they begin to consider integrating UAM into their communities’ transportation landscapes.
March 17-19, 2020 @ Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ
VFS Workshop on Infrastructure for Urban Air Mobility
Dedicated to identifying the foundational elements needed to support the development of infrastructure for UAM.
March 24-25, 2020 @ London, UK
RAeS Urban Air Mobility Conference 2020
POSTPONED! @ Friedrichshafen, Germany
Lindbergh e-flight Rally
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Agility Prime Launch: March 14
Dr. William B. Roper, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology & Logistics, invites interested parties to a 1/2-day Agility Prime Launch on Saturday, March 14, in Austin, Texas: Free Event — Must RSVP for access
Note: this is in conjunction with (but not affiliated with) South by Southwest (SXSW)
As part of a broader effort to partner with commercial innovators, Agility Prime brings unique government test ranges, airworthiness authorization, and early manned flight hours to accelerate the commercial transformative vertical lift market while providing extraordinary agility to military missions like logistics and rescue.
- Industry/Investors Panels & Demos: AirMap, Bell, Beta Technologies, Boeing, Elroy Air, Honeywell Aerospace, Joby Aviation, LIFT Aircraft, Moog, Piasecki Aircraft, Rolls-Royce, Sabrewing Aircraft, Uber
- Government Panel: Agility Prime Rapid Contracting; DoD Test Resources for You; Exports 101: Informed not Afraid; CFIUS 101: Know your Investors; DoD Airworthiness 101; AF Small Business Contracting
- Operator Panel: Emergency Services, Disaster Response, Personnel Recovery, Light Mobility, Defense Support to Civil Authority, Austere Medical Care
- Academia/Non-Profit: Autonomy Institute, University of Texas, Texas A&M, Civil Air Patrol, Aerospace Industries Association, Vertical Flight Society
Learn more about Agility Prime on eVTOL.news: US Air Force Moves to Boost eVTOL Development
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GoFly Final Fly Off
The GoFly Final Flyoff was held at NASA’s Ames Research Center on Feb. 27-Feb. 28. It was an incredible spotlight on VTOL and eVTOL innovation! Although none of the competitors was able to win the Grand Prize, Pratt & Whitney awarded its $100,000 Disruptor Prize to the innovative teTra team.
As a partnering organization and a GoFly Final Flyoff Sponsor, VFS was there — part of the panel discussion on VIP day, talking with all of the teams and taking photos. Check out our photo gallery and stay tuned for our video interviews!
News Roundup:
- teTra Wins $100,000 Disruptor Award at GoFly Final Fly-Off at Moffett Federal Airfield at NASA's Ames Research Center, GoFly press release, Feb 29
- Nobody Wins GoFly Prize, But Personal Flight Is Coming, Forbes, March 2
- Disruptive innovation recognized, but still no winner for $1 million GoFly Prize, eVTOL.com, March 4
- Team teTra wins Disruptor Award. Grand Prize Still Open, GoFly Prize, March 5
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Transformative Vertical Flight 2020 Resources
Transformative Vertical Flight 2020, with the 7th Annual eVTOL Symposium, was held Jan. 21-23 in San Jose, California, which included 58 technical paper presentations and 60+ invited speakers. Keynote talks were given by leaders in government and industry, including NASA, the FAA, the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy (OSTP), Bell, Uber & others.
Please plan for the 8th Annual eVTOL Symposium next January, in Mesa, Arizona, as well as our 76th Annual Forum this May in Montreal!
VFS Videos from Heli-Expo 2020
VFS also held several events at the Helicopter Association International (HAI) Heli-Expo the following week, Jan 27-30, 2020. Here are the key videos related to eVTOL and UAM:
Check out all of our videos at www.vtol.org/videos!
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The Vertical Flight Society's 76th Annual Forum and Technology Display will be held May 19-21, 2020 at the Palais des Congres de Montreal in Montreal, Quebec, with the theme, “The Future of Vertical Flight.”
The VFS Annual Forum is the world's leading international conference on vertical flight technology. The three-day event will include more than 250 technical presentations on every discipline from Acoustics to Unmanned Systems. Featured this year will be in-depth eVTOL technical paper sessions, a series of invited expert panels and speakers and a new Short Course on Electric VTOL Aircraft Design — 3 full days of eVTOL learning and sharing!
The Technology Display, running concurrently with the Forum, is the most extensive exposition of cutting edge vertical flight technologies in the world, and also includes other technologies more broadly applicable to aerospace in general. Submit your application to exhibit at the world's largest and longest-running vertical flight technology conference.
Learn more and make your plans today to attend — Register today for the Early Bird discount rates!
Note that this event has not been affected by COVID-19. |
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eVTOL.News™ Website
Have you checked out our eVTOL.news™ website lately? Learn about the different eVTOL aircraft now under development and check out our latest news stories. Past editions of The Electric VTOL News™ are also available.
We now have 260+ eVTOL designs listed in the World eVTOL Aircraft Directory, and the number continues to grow! Check out our:
Do you have a product or service of interest to the global eVTOL and UAM community? Contact VFS regarding membership and sponsorship opportunities to see how we can help support you!
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Vertically yours,
Mike.
Mike Hirschberg, Executive Director
The Vertical Flight Society
www.vtol.org
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