Manufacturers of novel eVTOL aircraft—designed to take off and land vertically like a helicopter but cruise on fixed wings like an airplane—have raised billions of dollars in venture capital. The FAA’s Innovate28 plan even predicts they will be a regular occurrence in U.S. skies by the time the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games arrive.

The industry is also backed by the Air Force via the Air Force Research Laboratory’s (AFRL) Agility Prime program, which it founded in 2020 to speed the development of vertical lift technology.

But according to research from Rand Corporation’s Project Air Force, which analyzes issues facing the department, the military may not be getting bang for its buck. Of note, the study was completed in July 2022 and has not since been revised.

“While eVTOL aircraft could likely benefit select USAF missions, eVTOL aircraft are unlikely to be transformational to the USAF,” researchers concluded. “Furthermore, injecting capital into eVTOL firms is not likely to have Agility Prime’s desired effect of shaping the domestic eVTOL industry.”

eVTOL is a new technology, but some designs are already flying. The EH216-S manufactured by China’s EHang, for example, last year earned the world’s first type certification for an eVTOL air taxi and has since completed a handful of commercial flights with real passengers. Pivotal, meanwhile, has already delivered its BlackFly personal eVTOL to private owners nationwide.

Many more such designs are under development to enable aerial rideshare services akin to Uber or Lyft, tourism and sightseeing, and regional transport.

The Air Force through Agility Prime has taken an interest in these technologies.

This year, it conducted the first simulated casualty evacuation and real-time deployments with an electric aircraft, Beta Technologies’ Alia. It is also testing eVTOL air taxis such as Archer Aviation’s Midnight and Joby Aviation’s S4 and personal eVTOL aircraft such as the BlackFly and Jump Aero’s Pulse, as well as non-VTOL electric models such as Electra’s EL-2 Goldfinch and Pipistrel’s Velis Electro. Autonomous systems from Reliable Robotics and Xwing (now a subsidiary of Joby) have further been evaluated through the Autonomy Prime division.

The AFRL commissioned research to gauge how much the Air Force benefits from Agility Prime—as well as how much the program actually helps its commercial partners. Researchers reviewed literature and case studies, discussed with experts, and modeled eVTOL operations, batteries, and more.

“Prime routinely assesses our portfolio and investment strategy to ensure we invest in emergent dual-use technology that can positively impact, and align with the priorities of the U.S. Air Force and broader Department of Defense,” Jacob Wilson, acting branch chief of Agility Prime, told FLYING.

Researchers found that for eVTOL specifically to be commercially viable, they will need to have sufficient charging infrastructure, pilot training, public trust, and, of course, safety. Further, improvements to systems such as lithium-ion batteries could increase their range and payload, opening up more use cases. But the technology in its current form can support some USAF missions.

For example, airmen could perform airlifts when Lockheed C-130 Hercules transport aircraft are unavailable or move forces between facilities in place of cars. The technology’s runway and jet fuel independence are big draws.

“However, eVTOLs are unlikely to be transformational today, and no major command appears ready to sponsor an eVTOL capability today,” researchers said.

Rand predicts the Air Force will make up only a “fraction of a percent” of the demand in the future eVTOL market. The department also “lacks sufficient mechanisms,” it said, to influence commercial firms to produce aircraft suitable for military use. Further, security vulnerabilities may arise due to certain countries dominating the production of components like semiconductors.

Researchers recommended that Agility Prime scale back the program to a “few of the most-capable eVTOL aircraft” and smaller demonstrations. It should continue working with commercial partners, they said—but crucially, those relationships should not be tied to funding.

In addition, researchers urged Agility Prime to support government agencies working toward key regulations around FAA eVTOL certification, air traffic control, and pilot requirements, the latter being a particularly contentious issue for the industry.

“Agility Prime has focused on experimentation, demonstration, and military exercise opportunities with the technologies in our portfolio, as well as user feedback, to promote dual use eVTOL development[…]to leverage commercial technology for military applications,” Wilson said in response to the report’s suggestions. “Additionally, the program has been continuously engaged in nonmonetary or ‘in-kind’ collaboration and knowledge sharing opportunities.”

Agility Prime may be forced to accept at least some of Rand’s recommendations due to a constrained budget environment.

The Air Force’s fiscal year 2025 budget request does not keep up with inflation. And AFWERX, which houses Agility Prime, is only projected to receive about $20 million of it—a substantial decline from last year’s request of $83.3 million. As a result, less funding to commercial partners may be inevitable.

Backers such as Stellantis and Toyota, meanwhile, continue to pour money into the industry.

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The system, which will use physical gestures from pilots to manipulate controls in the cockpit, will be required to function in less-than-ideal circumstances, such as when the pilot is wearing gloves or turbulence causes the aircraft to vibrate.

“These new non-contact, gesture-based control interactions will enhance pilot situational awareness, mission effectiveness, and overall aircraft performance,” said Enrique Lizaso Olmos, cofounder and CEO of Multiverse Computing.

Multiverse Computing develops AI systems for finance, energy, manufacturing, logistics, space, healthcare, and defense. The company’s project, “Quantum Gesture Recognition for Aerospace Control,” beat out competitors to win a contract from the Enhanced Pilot Interfaces & Interactions for fighter Cockpit (EPIIC) program.

Unveiled last year, EPIIC is a coalition of more than 20 organizations from 12 European countries backed by more than $80 million from the European Commission through its European Defense Fund. Led by Thales, the initiative includes other aviation giants like Leonardo and Dassault Aviation, as well as university researchers.

The goal of EPIIC is to bolster European militaries with fighter cockpit technology that melds humans with machines, such as virtual assistants, helmet-mounted and large area displays, “eyes-out” systems. It also covers gesture-based hardware and software, the portion of the initiative Airbus is leading.

The aviation titan’s collaboration with Multiverse Computing began this month and will last about one year. The AI specialist will lean on quantum computing to develop algorithms that can recognize pilot gestures. The objective is to eliminate the need for buttons, switches, and other conventional controls.

According to Multiverse Computing, the system could even incorporate virtual or augmented reality technology. Imagine, for example, a headset that projects digital buttons for the pilot to “press” by pointing a finger.

To ensure the AI-based system doesn’t get its gestures mixed up, the partners will put it through simulated testing at Airbus Defense and Space facilities.

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“While helicopters are invaluable for their range and payload capabilities, drones complement these assets by offering quicker, more cost-effective deployment,” Skydio, one of the largest U.S. drone manufacturers, told FLYING. “Their ability to operate in challenging conditions—including wind and rain—and their capacity for remote operation from anywhere via a web browser enhances the overall safety and efficiency of the response efforts, ensuring broader and more flexible coverage.”

Since shuttering its consumer drone business to focus on selling to enterprise and public safety customers last year, Skydio has assisted operators with plenty of disaster response and recovery efforts. Even before then, the company said it provided assistance following Hurricane Ian in 2022.

“Skydio team members—many of whom live in the communities their customers serve—closely monitor developing situations such as these, proactively deploying resources to impacted areas and supporting on the ground and in real time,” the company said.

In the wake of Helene, Skydio customers are deploying drones for search and rescue, overwatch, and damage assessment. Since the storm damaged many bridges in the most affected areas, for example, customers are using drone inspections to create digital twins, helping them assess safety and accelerate the repair process.

The company said it surged available personnel, remote connectivity systems, and its X10 and X10D drone models—equipped with spotlight attachments—to regions most in need, including the Florida Panhandle and western North Carolina.

Skydio has been working with local, state, and federal agencies to prepare for and respond to Helene, including the city of Tampa, Punta Gorda Police Department, and Southern Company.

Southern Company, an electric and gas utility provider, enlisted Skydio drones to perform damage assessments with “unprecedented speed and efficiency,” per Jonathan Tinch, an uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) pilot and safety coordinator for the company.

The aircraft collected high-resolution images and real-time video of the damage, transmitting them to a command center. There, they were analyzed by experts who directed ground crews to the areas most in need of repair.

“As a result, we were able to restore power to our customers more quickly than ever before,” said Tinch.

As another major hurricane approaches, Skydio said it will offer further support.

“After what we saw in Asheville and the impact of drones there, we have doubled our efforts to support agencies responding to Milton,” Skydio told FLYING. “We have a team of people holed up in an Airbnb in northern Florida poised to be on the ground in the Tampa area the minute the storm clears and it is safe to travel.”

Also assisting with post-Helene recovery efforts are pilots, engineers, and scientists from Mississippi State University’s (MSU) Raspet Flight Research Laboratory.

Raspet, backed by Project JUSTICE—a program within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate designed to learn about uncrewed systems by sending them on real-world missions—is supporting the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) with a massive UAS called Teros.

Built by Navmar Applied Sciences Corporation, Teros has a 44-foot wingspan and can remain aloft for 20 hours, allowing it to perform long-duration missions. Raspet deployed to Georgia on September 29 to assess post-hurricane flooding.

“Once a hurricane has passed over an inland area, the water it leaves behind is constantly moving, and that movement can be difficult to predict, especially in places where trees and other barriers might obscure water from satellite imagery,” said Jamie Dyer, a geosciences professor at Mississippi State and associate director of the university’s Northern Gulf Institute (NGI).

NGI experts tracked Helene through the Gulf of Mexico and Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Tennessee. Using Teros’ sensors and cameras, they collected real-time data and visuals on the movement of floodwaters, beaming it to federal entities like FEMA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

“UAS allow us to see in better detail where water is going and which areas will be impacted by flooding, which is vital information to have during a crisis event,” said Dyer. “Additionally, the data we collect will improve the river forecasting models that local, state and federal officials rely on.”

State officials with the North Carolina Department of Transportation’s Division of Aviation have also deployed drones to survey roads, bridges, and other infrastructure, flying more than 200 missions in the past week alone.

Over at NOAA, meanwhile, “hurricane hunters” are flying a pair of Lockheed WP-3Ds and a Gulfstream IV-SP—affectionately nicknamed “Kermit,” “Miss Piggy,” and “Gonzo”—directly into the eye of Hurricane Milton. Some of these missions will deploy Blackswift S0 UAS to measure temperature, pressure, wind, and humidity, which can help predict a storm’s path.

The FAA advises individual drone users or hobbyists to be mindful of temporary flight restrictions (TFRs) in place around hurricane-affected regions. Pilots who neglect to coordinate with local emergency services could inadvertently hinder their efforts, so noncommercial operators should exercise caution.

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The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Aircraft Operations Center (AOC) houses a small fleet of “hurricane hunters,” which researchers deploy to predict a hurricane’s structure, intensity, and path. And with Milton forecast to remain a major hurricane when it impacts the Tampa area on Wednesday, the data they gather will be as important as ever.

“This data will then be sent to the National Hurricane Center (NHC) and into the weather models to help us pinpoint this track forecast,” said Sofia de Solo, a NOAA flight director, in a preflight brief, “which is extra important this time around, being that the hurricane is expected to hit in a highly populous and highly vulnerable region that just got hit by Hurricane Helene.”

For more than four decades, NOAA’s AOC has managed and maintained ten crewed aircraft at Lakeland Linder International Airport (KLAL) in Florida. Among them are the hurricane hunters: a pair of Lockheed WP-3Ds, or P-3s, affectionately dubbed “Kermit” and “Miss Piggy”, and a Gulfstream IV-SP nicknamed “Gonzo.”

“Kermit” and “Miss Piggy” are designed to fly directly into hurricanes. The four-engine turboprops handle both storm research and reconnaissance when called upon by the NHC, measuring storm structure and intensity, producing real-time forecasts, and scanning for indicators of deadly storm surges. These missions typically take the P-3s into the eye of the storm to measure its central pressure.

“Gonzo,” meanwhile, flies above and around hurricanes with its range of about 4,000 nm and cruise altitude of 45,000 feet. NOAA uses the G-IV to study weather systems in the upper atmosphere surrounding a storm, which can help predict its path. According to the agency, it has flown around nearly every Atlantic-based hurricane that has posed a threat to Americans since 1997.

Outside hurricane season, the aircraft are also used to study weather phenomena such as the El Niño system, atmospheric gases over the North Atlantic, and winter storms on the U.S. Pacific coast.

“Miss Piggy” so far has made two flights into Milton, passing through the eye of the storm multiple times in what NOAA calls a “butterfly pattern,” used to identify the center of a hurricane.

“Essentially, every time we pass through the center, we’re going to get a look at the structure of the storm,” said Jonathan Zawislak, a NOAA flight director.

During each pass, the P-3 released dropsondes, which NOAA describes as “weather balloons in reverse.” These expendable devices float on the ocean surface and collect temperature, dew point, wind speed, and pressure data, which can help researchers predict intensity and pathing. The aircraft also produced 3D imagery of Milton using its tail doppler radar.

“Gonzo” so far has flown three missions to collect readings on the air and water in front of Milton, which can “steer” the storm. The G-IV also released dropsondes and gathered tail doppler radar data, beaming it back to the NHC.

“On satellite imagery, the storm presents itself very small. It has a very small pinhole, and due to the intensification, the storm is evacuating air at a very rapid rate,” said de Solo during the preflight briefing. “Up at where we’re flying at 40,000 feet, we’ll feel that.”

NOAA hurricane hunters use tail doppler radar to create 3D imagery of storms, such as this map of Hurricane Sam from September 2021. [Courtesy: NOAA]

According to NOAA, similar missions will be flown before Milton makes landfall. On Tuesday, hurricane-force winds and a life-threatening storm surge are expected across the north coast of the Yucatan Peninsula. The hurricane will remain “extremely dangerous,” NOAA and the NHC said Tuesday morning, and could produce an “extremely life-threatening situation” along Florida’s west coast, where a hurricane warning is in place.

“Preparations to protect life and property in the warning areas should be complete by tonight,” the agencies said in an update on X.

NOAA also intends to deploy uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) to assist its hurricane hunters. The agency owns two such systems, the Altius 600 and Blackswift S0, that measure temperature, pressure, wind, and humidity both for storms and the ocean surrounding them. Both aircraft are deployed from the P-3 and piloted remotely, capable of staying aloft for up to four hours.

Aircrews eject the drones from beneath the aircraft at about 220 knots, transporting them as close as possible to the eye of the storm. Data is beamed directly from the UAS back to the P-3, which then sends it to the NHC. The drones are capable of going places crewed aircraft cannot, particularly near the ocean’s surface.

As Hurricane Helene approached the U.S. Southeast, “Miss Piggy” and “Kermit” deployed several Blackswifts to study its composition and path. NOAA told FLYING the agency will fly similar UAS for similar missions as Milton grows closer.

NOAA and the NHC encouraged the public to pay attention to the latest Milton updates on the NHC’s website, noting that forecasts are constantly shifting.

Some NOAA hurricane hunter missions are supported by the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, also known as the Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunters. Stationed at Keesler Air Force Base (KBIX) in Biloxi, Mississippi, the 53rd deploys a WC-130J Super Hercules to survey storms in the Atlantic, Pacific, Caribbean, and Gulf of Mexico for the NHC.

A spokesperson for the Hurricane Hunters told FLYING the squadron flew three missions apiece on Sunday and Monday, with two more scheduled for Tuesday. It flew nine reconnaissance missions into Hurricane Helene last month.

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The Army Applications Laboratory (AAL) this week awarded a contract to Austin, Texas-based Lift Aircraft to design a container that can carry blood supply and perform casualty evacuations (CASEVAC). Crucially, the design will need to integrate with self-flying or self-driving vehicles.

“The current practice of relying on crewed vehicles to provide blood resupply and CASEVAC in contested areas has significant challenges,” said Major Rickey Royal, contracting officer with the AAL. “The Army has identified a significant need for a modular, multimission payload capable of climate control and telemedicine that can deploy via an autonomous aerial and/or ground platform.”

According to Lift, the goal will be to deploy the payload system—which will be climate-controlled to stabilize blood temperature and include monitors to track vital signs—as swiftly as possible. It will also need to fit seamlessly with existing military operations.

“Our selection for this project underscores our readiness to expand into broad defense applications,” said Matt Chasen, founder and CEO of Lift. “We are confident that this collaboration will ensure swift, autonomous delivery of blood and evacuation services for casualties, and will ultimately save lives.”

To build the container, Lift is partnering with Near Earth Autonomy, which has produced autonomous medical logistics technology for the Army Combat Medics and Marine Corps. The partners will work to minimize the Army’s reliance on humans during the critical “golden hour,” during which quick medical aid can save a patient’s life.

The contract will culminate in a demonstration of the autonomous medical payload system both in the air and on the ground. The company will use a specially designed version of its Hexa Cargo aircraft, which the Air Force has already tested and flown.

“We plan to develop, test, and demonstrate the system over the next 12 months,” said Sanjiv Singh, CEO of Near Earth. “Lift’s Hexa and Near Earth’s autonomy systems have a strong synergistic fit. We believe that our approach of combining existing, proven systems is the most efficient way to rapidly revolutionize battlefield medical support while minimizing costs and delays.”

According to Lift, the pinwheel-shaped Hexa qualifies as a Part 103 ultralight, which are restricted to an empty weight below 254 pounds and a single occupant, limited to recreational use, and subject to other criteria. That also means it requires neither a tail number nor FAA approval to fly.

As detailed in New York Magazine, Hexa actually surpasses the ultralight weight limit. Lift skirts this by claiming the extra weight comes from safety equipment such as floats, despite that exception being intended for aircraft that primarily operate over water.

The 15-by-15-foot aircraft is controlled using a simple, three-axis joystick aided by a redundant autopilot computer. Pilots also have the option to switch to what Lift calls “Look, mom, no hands!” mode, which uses touchscreen controls.

Hexa can fly in 20-knot winds, medium rain, and temperatures between 0 and 120 degrees Fahrenheit at up to 60 knots. The model’s endurance (10 to 17 minutes) and range (8-15 sm), however, depend on its payload, which maxes out at 250 pounds. Lift comes from 18 electric motors and propellers, but according to the company, only two-thirds of them are needed to land safely on land or water.

Instead of selling Hexa to private owners, Lift is offering a pay-per-flight experience, where customers can receive about one hour of training before flying the aircraft within a restricted zone. The firm is in the midst of its inaugural U.S. tour, which launched in March at Florida’s Lakeland Linder International Airport (KLAL).

According to Lift, several hundred people have flown Hexa, including former Amazon boss Jeff Bezos, CNN’s Anderson Cooper, and ABC News’ Rob Marciano. The company is even looking to bring the experience to the heart of New York City.

In addition, it has allocated five aircraft to be sold to U.S. public safety agencies. Those customers could fly Hexa for firefighting, police, medical, search and rescue, and emergency response under the FAA’s public aircraft operations rules.

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Whisper Aero, the manufacturer of an ultraquiet propulsion system, on Tuesday announced a partnership with Electric Power Systems (EPS) to combine its next-generation thrusters with EPS’ proprietary batteries. The objective, according to the partners, is to build certifiable electric powertrains for Part 23 models.

“Ultimately, the goal is to field these powertrains in complete solutions on retrofit and clean-sheet designs that enable affordable, sustainable flights at scale,” Whisper said.

Whisper was co-founded by Mark Moore and Ian Villa, two of the people behind Uber’s short-lived air taxi venture Uber Elevate, which was acquired by electric air taxi manufacturer Joby Aviation in 2020.

Eric Allison, the former head of Uber Elevate, also joined Joby, while co-founder Nikhil Goel departed for rival air taxi firm Archer Aviation.

But Moore and Villa decided to do something different, emerging from stealth in April 2023 with a $32 million raise to build a new kind of propulsion system.

At the core of Whisper’s thruster configuration is a set of high blade count electric ducted fans, an evolution of the designs Moore helped develop during his time as NASA, such as the X-57 Maxwell. According to the company, these fans are as quiet as a whisper at cruise altitude while delivering greater performance and safety than conventional propulsion systems.

The key is the fan’s high blade count, allowing Whisper to keep blade speed low while achieving an ultrasonic blade passage frequency, which is inaudible to humans. The company’s strategy is to differentiate between the different noises the propulsor produces, reducing some while “masking” others to be more pleasant to humans or animals.

Whisper said recent upgrades to its 80 pound-force thrust propulsor prototype, the eQ250, have effectively decoupled power and thrust, which typically are integrated in a turboprop. In short, Whisper can now put energy into developing its thruster while seeking a partner for its power needs—and it believes EPS is that partner.

The company’s EPiC 1.0 battery is known for powering novel aircraft such as the Diamond eDA40 awaiting FAA and EASA Part 23 certification. Per Whisper, EPS’ EPiC 2.0 battery boosts airtime by 50 percent on a single charge and could be the foundation for its new powertrains. EPS is seeking supplemental type certification for both systems from the FAA and European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).

The partners say they have begun developing a Part 23 concept combining Whisper’s eQ250 and JetFoil integration with EPS’ energy storage systems. Already, they have completed initial compatibility testing. And at UP.Summit, the companies showcased how Whisper’s propulsor couples to EPS’ mobile battery unit.

They said the goal is to eventually test a flightworthy hybrid-electric demonstrator using a larger array of Whisper propulsors, as well as batteries that can integrate with a high voltage bus and turbogenerator.

Whisper said the agreement with EPS reflects the growth of its recently launched ReconnecTN initiative, under which it and autonomous flight developer Reliable Robotics are collaborating with public airports, academic and government institutions, electric charging providers, and the Tennessee Department of Transportation. The company has also secured NASA funding to develop electric ducted fans for human spaceflight.

Earlier this year, Moore, speaking at the Ohio Air Mobility Symposium, revealed the concept for the Whisper Jetliner—a 100-passenger regional commercial aircraft. While the company has no plans to actually build the aircraft, it hopes to entice a buyer who could develop the concept—potentially using the new EPS-enabled thruster.

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Here at UP.Summit 2024—a private gathering of some 300 movers and shakers in the transportation industry—manufacturer Pivotal on Tuesday said it has delivered 13 of its BlackFly prototype aircraft to customers nationwide. Those users, which include both private owners and the U.S. Air Force, are some of the first in the world to pilot an eVTOL design.

Pivotal considers its first customer, Tim Lum, who received his BlackFly in 2023, to be the first private eVTOL pilot in the world, and the firm has made a point of getting its aircraft in the hands of users early. Through its early access program (EAP), it selected 12 U.S. participants willing to put in the hours required to train to fly it and provide feedback.

Both BlackFly and Helix—its successor and Pivotal’s first production aircraft, unveiled at last year’s UP.Summit—qualify as FAA Part 103 ultralight aircraft because they seat a single pilot and weigh less than 350 pounds when empty. That means no pilot certificate is required to fly it. In lieu of hundreds of flight hours, Pivotal says it can train customers on a simulator at its Palo Alto, California, headquarters in as little as two weeks. That training is included in a $190,000 purchase of Helix, which hit the U.S. market in January.

BlackFly may be a prototype of Helix, but it packs plenty of functionality. The model is a fixed-wing eVTOL design with a twist—while many eVTOLs feature tilting rotors, propellers, or even wings, BlackFly’s entire airframe tilts when transitioning from vertical or hover to forward flight. According to Pivotal, this reduces aircraft weight and complexity.

For hover, BlackFly relies entirely on propulsion from eight motors, four on each wing, but it cruises on fixed wings. The model is controlled by a single pilot using a pair of simple joysticks plus fly-by-wire controls, and all it takes is the push of a button and pull of a joystick to switch flight modes. With no landing gear, it can take off from pavement, dirt, or grass.

The idea of nonpilots taking to the skies freely may sound scary, but as an ultralight category aircraft BlackFly comes with some restrictions. Users can fly it only during daytime within Class G airspace, far from congested skies, and are limited to a range of about 20 sm (17 nm) and cruise speed of 63 mph (55 knots). Safety features include a full-aircraft parachute.

BlackFly’s unique capabilities have garnered attention from the U.S. Air Force, which is evaluating it for missions from surveillance to logistics to emergency response. Pivotal is a partner of Agility Prime, a division of Air Force innovation arm AFWERX dedicated to developing vertical lift technology.

The company’s agreement with AFWERX and Modern Technology Solutions Inc. (MTSI), for example, calls for the delivery of eight BlackFlys and two flight simulators, as well as pilot training and support services. In mid-June, Air Force personnel kicked off an eight-week uncrewed testing campaign to gauge the aircraft’s fit for military use. AFWERX and MTSI also evaluated Beta Technologies’ Alia, Pyka’s Pelican Cargo, and Pipistrel’s Velis Electro as part of the effort.

In May, Pivotal signed a two-year contract with the Air Force and Agility Prime, giving it further access to test facilities, expert resources, and sites under restricted airspace. Officials said they are intrigued by BlackFly’s ability to take off and land with minimal space, juice up using mobile electric power systems, and deploy within 30 minutes, all while being cheaper than a helicopter.

Only eight of Pivotal’s 13 BlackFly deliveries, though, have gone to the Air Force—the rest were shipped to private pilots, who according to the company are already flying. The number of personal eVTOL users could grow with the introduction of Helix, which maintains the same core features of its predecessor but introduces upgrades such as improved power, performance, and payload.

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Manufacturer Jump Aero’s JA1 Pulse doesn’t give its operator literal superpowers. But it does place the pilot in the prone position à la Superman and, according to Jump Aero, will arrive on the scene of emergencies faster than an ambulance.

In areas without adequate road infrastructure, ambulances can be kryptonite for patients in need of advanced life support. The average emergency medical services (EMS) response time in the U.S. is about 7 minutes. But that doubles to 14 minutes in rural areas, per a study published by Journal of the American Medical Association. An estimated 4.5 million Americans live in so-called “ambulance deserts,” where lifesaving care could take 25 minutes or more to arrive.

Many of those locations are in Texas, where the Calhoun County Emergency Management Service will become the first Pulse operator. According to Calhoun County and Jump, the region is an ideal test ground due to its susceptibility to natural disasters such as hurricanes and remote communities and attractions, which are frequented by tourists. The county also spans Texas’ barrier islands, which have poor road access.

“Calhoun County has been looking for a solution to provide timely response within our geographical challenges, and this aircraft has the promise to make a real difference to our residents,” said Dr. J. Dustin Jenkins, director of EMS for Calhoun County.

Pulse is an electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) model capable of carrying one first responder plus equipment, with a payload of 330 pounds. It is designed to fly anywhere within a 31 sm (27 nm) radius in eight minutes or less. The idea is for the aircraft—which reaches a top speed of 250 knots—to be dispatched alongside an ambulance so it can arrive at the scene first, and the pilot-turned-paramedic can begin first aid. It will come equipped with a heart monitor, automated CPR machine, oxygen supply, and other life-saving tools.

According to Jump Aero, Pulse can be deployed in 60 seconds or less and fit within a flatbed pickup without being disassembled, saving more critical time. It has no retractable landing gear and can land on 10-degree slopes, as well as locations inaccessible to helicopters such as the front of a home. 

The model’s tail-sitter biplane airframe stands nose-up on the runway, with a large belly window designed to provide a wide-angle view of the ground below. Battery-powered propellers, positioned safely above head height, provide vertical lift, while two sets of fixed wings enable cruise flight.

Uniquely, the Pulse pilot will enter the aircraft upright, ascend, and then transition to the prone position as the aircraft rotates forward so they are facing the ground. Simplified flight controls, full envelope protection, ballistic airframe parachute, and an adaptive flight controller add a level of safety.

Jump Aero will seek to obtain grants and participate in federal programs to support Pulse’s trial deployment in Calhoun County. The campaign will enable initial Pulse field testing the company believes will help it determine how to roll out the technology in rural communities nationwide.

“The data we gather from initial deployment will drive our long-term operations and will provide crucial lessons learned to bring us that much closer to saving lives of rural Americans,” said Carl Dietrich, cofounder, CEO, and president of Jump Aero.

Jump Aero’s first full-scale proof of concept prototype is partially funded by $1.8 million from AFWERX, the innovation arm of the U.S. Air Force. AFWERX previously awarded the firm contracts worth $3.6 million through its Agility Prime program, which partners with commercial industry to develop vertical lift technology. According to program lead John Tekell, the design “has potential for defense-related use-cases.” It could also be deployed by fire departments and law enforcement.

Outside Texas, Jump Aero is working with the Utah Department of Transportation to study how many Pulse aircraft would be needed to provide coverage for the entire state. The Oregon Department of Aviation, meanwhile, estimates it will need 126 aircraft for full coverage. The department has not committed to a purchase but signed a memorandum of understanding with the company earlier this year.

Jump Aero has not yet communicated publicly when Pulse will enter service. However, eVTOL air taxi manufacturers are targeting commercial rollouts as soon as 2025 and as late as the end of the decade.

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Fledgling advanced air mobility (AAM) operator UrbanLink Air Mobility on Wednesday announced an order of 27 electric seagliders from Regent Craft, adding to a portfolio that already includes 20 electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) regional jets from German manufacturer Lilium.

The seagliders are intended to bolster existing transport networks in Miami and San Juan by adding mobility along the coasts, the partners say. They will use existing dock infrastructure and according to UrbanLink could serve as many as 4.3 million passengers per year, with operations commencing in 2027. Regent internal data predicts that 88 percent of Miami residents would be willing to use the vehicles as a transportation option.

UrbanLink will operate Regent’s flagship Viceroy, a zero-emission design built to carry 12 passengers at 180 mph (156 knots). At launch, the vehicle will fly routes up to 180 sm (156 nm) on a single charge, but Regent predicts its range will increase to 500 sm (436 nm) as electric battery technology improves.

Viceroy is designed to combine the speed of aircraft with the functionality and low operating cost of a boat. The craft flies in ground effect about 20 to 30 feet above the water, with forward and backward propulsion generated by propellers.

Interestingly, the model is actually defined as a maritime vessel and will be regulated by the U.S. Coast Guard, with FAA technical support. Viceroy operators will be maritime captains, and the vehicle’s only controls are boat controls. Certain maneuvers such as landing are aided by a proprietary autonomous flight control system.

Viceroy first flew in 2022 and could begin crewed test flights by year’s end after the Coast Guard last month approved seaglider prototype testing in Rhode Island.

For UrbanLink’s purposes, Viceroy will complement the Lilium Jet, which it also intends to fly in South Florida and Puerto Rico. 

“This order perfectly complements our previous commitment to electric sea vessels, all of which will seamlessly integrate with our all-electric eVTOL jets, expanding our reach and enhancing connectivity across the regions we serve,” said Ed Wegel, founder and chairman of UrbanLink.

According to Regent, the firm has secured more than 600 seaglider orders from airline operators, with customers including United Airlines collaborator Mesa Airlines and Southern Airways Express.

The company is backed by Lockheed Martin, Japan Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, and other investors and has raised a total of $90M to support aircraft development. It views coastal passenger transport as the biggest opportunity for its flagship model but is also interested in sightseeing, cargo delivery, offshore logistics, maritime patrol. Lockheed additionally is evaluating it for defense applications.

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December 11 is the submission deadline for Stage 1 of GoAERO—a three-year contest backed by NASA, Boeing, RTX, and other key aviation stakeholders seeking to aid the estimated 4.5 million Americans living in “ambulance deserts,” who may need to wait longer than 25 minutes for emergency services to arrive. The aircraft created by competitors could rescue people in danger and respond to disasters, medical emergencies, or humanitarian crises.

Officially launched on February 5, GoAERO (Aerial Emergency Response Operations) has been recruiting teams of university students who lack the financial backing of large corporations. But the competition is open to just about anyone over the age of 18, GoAERO founder and CEO Gwen Lighter told FLYING.

“It is a call for engineers and entrepreneurs and innovators and universities and students and professors and retirees and businesses and corporations and all of that to join us and to create these emergency response fliers,” said Lighter.

Lighter envisions GoAERO’s emergency response flyers as “another tool in the first response toolkit.” Helicopters, she said, are great for emergency response but are expensive to procure and operate, require a pilot, and struggle to operate in tight spaces.

Drones, at the other end of the spectrum, are excellent for delivering medical supplies. Drone delivery companies Zipline and Wing, for instance, have collectively transported hundreds of thousands of shipments of blood, vaccines, and equipment. But when it comes to search and rescue, drones can only complete the latter portion of the mission.

“What we are doing is we are saying, ‘OK, helicopters are one end of the spectrum, drones are the other,’ and then putting them together, molding them into something that can deliver a first responder to someone in need, rescue someone who needs help, deliver needed goods and supplies, all within the rubric of natural disasters, everyday medical emergencies, events caused by climate change, humanitarian crises,” Lighter said.

The aircraft are intended to be simple, compact, and uncrewed, flying either entirely on their own or with help from a remote pilot. They must also be easily transportable, deployable within minutes, and capable of delivering first responders, patients, or supplies in cities, rural areas, and disaster zones.

Aviation for Public Good

Lighter previously organized GoAERO’s predecessor GoFLY, which similarly sought to put groundbreaking technology into the hands of people who otherwise would not have access. But whereas GoFLY was geared toward personal, recreational flight, GoAERO is about helping others.

“GoAERO is really focused on a singular mission, which is saving lives,” Lighter said. “It is aviation for public good.”

According to Lighter, all GoFLY partners have signed on to the new initiative, and even more have joined. Boeing is the lead GoAERO sponsor, but the contest is also backed by RTX, Honeywell, Iridium, and industry groups such as the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) and International Council of the Aeronautical Sciences (ICAS). First responders, aviation regulators, and other organizations are on board.

“We’ve had hundreds of discussions with not only aviation [firms], but first responders in a wide variety of different types of response, whether that is search and rescue, whether that is wildfire, whether that is earthquake, whether that is everyday medical emergencies and EMTs,” said Lighter.

She added: “Collectively, we have landed on these technical rules and specifications to create aircraft that really allow first responders to be first responders, rather than pilots and all of these other things.”

GoAERO will provide teams with some design guidelines. But Lighter told FLYING that the goal is for participants to produce a wide range of designs. Teams will be permitted to focus on medical needs and disaster scenarios specific to their area, for example.

“Success for us looks like in three years, at the end of the competition, that we have a multitude of different flyers that show up, and some are better in everyday medical emergencies, and some are better in urban environments, and some are better in remote environments, and some are better in wildfires,” said Lighter.

Participants will have some help from above. The competition offers what Lighter called a “full education platform,” with educational webinars, legal assistance, and one-on-one mentorship opportunities with experts from Boeing, U.S. government agencies such as the FAA or Department of Defense, and other mentors. Those relationships can help them refine design concepts, build autonomy, or raise funding.

GoAERO earlier this month, for example, signed a Space Act Agreement with NASA that will see the space agency lend its personnel to the initiative. NASA also committed $400,000 through its University Innovation Project to support U.S.-based university teams and will grant access to free or discounted software, services, and products.

“I think GoAERO represents bringing the best of aeronautics and aviation to the public space, to public good, making sure that we are bringing our capabilities, our technologies, our genius together to work for the American people and for the people across the globe that need these kind of services,” said Bob Pearce, associate administrator of NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD) and GoAERO mentor.

The Fly-Off

The GoAERO competition will culminate in a three-day “fly-off” beginning February 2027, during which teams will put their aircraft through a series of missions to gauge adversity, productivity, and maneuverability.

At stake are $2 million worth of prizes, including a $1 million grand prize for the winner. In addition, the top performer in each of the three fly-off missions will win $150,000. A $100,000 RTX Disruptor Award will be handed out for “disruptive advancement of the state of the art,” while a $100,000 autonomy prize will highlight the best use of automation.

All missions will be flown in a single-occupant aircraft carrying a mannequin, “Alex,” or other nonhuman payload. The contest will evaluate a range of different scenarios, testing competitors’ ability to save an injured person from under a forest canopy, douse a wildfire, rescue a drowning victim, and complete other emergency missions.

All of these must be performed under difficult conditions such as inclement weather, unknown terrain, or uncooperative air traffic control. Competitors will not have access to the mission courses or locations of obstacles until the day of the event. In addition, they should “expect the unexpected”—mission conditions and elements may not be exactly as advertised.

The FAA helped write the technical rules of the competition and will mentor teams to ensure their aircraft comply with federal rules. The agency will be “deeply involved” in the fly-off to maintain safety.

“We are closely working with the FAA in a number of their departments, and we have fully integrated our programming into today’s FAA certification process, and we will be helping our teams through that,” Lighter said.

During the contest, teams will have to dodge pylons and walls and contend with less-than-ideal takeoff and landing conditions. “The Flood” site, for example, is an 18-inch deep pool with simulated rain conditions—teams must touch or pop a balloon floating on its surface. Other locations will feature inclined slopes, sandy pits, or heavy winds.

A panel of expert judges will rank attempts by completion, speed, and payload, with bonus points awarded for one-person crew operations, quick deployment, and few operator inputs. To be eligible for the grand prize, a team needs to complete two missions, or complete one and partially complete another.

What Happens After?

Lighter emphasized that GoAERO hopes to produce not just emergency response flyers, but an ecosystem around them.

“We’re building this ecosystem so it’s not one company, it’s not one university, it’s not one entrepreneur, it’s not one regulator, it’s everybody coming together to use transformative technology to save lives,” she said.

At the end of the fly-off, the winning teams will have full control over what happens next. They will retain all intellectual property rights and do not necessarily need to commercialize their technology with a partner.

But while there are zero post-competition requirements, GoAERO aims to set teams up for success. Partners such as Boeing and RTX will be present for the fly-off, and winners will then have the option to meet with them and start a partnership.

“What we want to do is enable our teams to make the best choices for themselves at the end of the competition, whether that is licensing technology, whether that is building on their own, whether that is raising funds to commercialize, whether that is joining with a strategic partner—all are open and options for each of our teams,” Lighter said. “We certainly would never dictate to our teams how they should deploy. Rather, we will create the conditions where they have multiple options to be able to commercialize should they wish to do so.”

She added: “We all came together because we realized that there’s been a convergence of breakthrough technologies in aviation and in adjacent industries, and we now have this first moment in history that we have the ability to create new forms of emergency response aircraft.”

How to Get Involved

The deadline for GoAERO’s initial paper submission phase is December 11, which means there is plenty of time to apply.

To do so, applicants can visit goaeroprize.com to find the Stage 1 application forms, which include short biographies of each team member and legal documents covering liability and insurance, for example. Application is free, but there is a design submission fee of $250 for individuals and $500 for teams.

“Everything is on the website, from the technical rules to the schedules to the webinars to who the advisors are and who the partners are to how to engage with us,” said Lighter.

GoAERO excludes applicants under the age of 18, employees of Boeing or RTX and their families, and citizens or residents of countries subject to U.S. sanctions or export controls. But all others may apply, and the competition already includes teams from 40 countries. Entities that would prefer not to form a team but are interested in a partnership can also contact GoAERO.

Ten $10,000 winners will be selected from the Stage 1 pool, and eight Stage 2 teams will win $40,000 each. But teams can enter the competition at any time, including during the final fly-off. For that last phase, participants will need an aircraft with registration and airworthiness certification that has demonstrated, via video evidence, controlled flight with a full payload.

The stage is set. The rules are clear. All interested parties need to do is join the competition.

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