• CAAC released the draft of the new Part 23 certification with electric airplane section

    The Chinese civil aviation regulator CAAC today released the draft of the new Part 23 certification document. Some highlights include:
    1. it has a new section (H section on page 51) for electric airplane which is for the first time in CAAC Part 23 certification rulemaking.
    2. rename Part 23 to „normal airplane“ consolidating „normal“, „aerobatic“, „utility“ and „commuter“ category into „normal“ in existing Part 23
    3.define airplane certification requirement by seat number and performance, not by weight.

    the draft download link at CAAC (in Chinese language only): http://www.caac.gov.cn/HDJL/YJZJ/202002/P020200225439412180257.doc

    In general the CAAC new part 23 is similar to EASA new Part 23 in many aspects, which is expected. What’s especially interesting is that it’s  encouraging to see CAAC is making real rulemaking efforts for electric airplane certification even though the H section in the draft appears to be lack of many important details. CAAC is inviting public opinion on this draft until 26 March 2020.

  • Joby Aviation founder and CEO JoeBen Bevrit presented interesting details of his company at the Transformative Vertical Flight 2020 dinner. More info inside the new e-flight-Journal.pdf file in an Interview of Willi Tacke with JoeBen Bevrit.

    Geoffrey jeram (AIAA VSTOL TC chair) handing the price to Justin Paines, Chief Test Pilot @ Joby Aviation together with JoeBen-Bevrit and VFS director Mike Hirschber From left to right
  • Mark MOORE TALKING AT THE VFS Transformative Vertical Flight 2020

    Mark Moore, Engineering Director of Aviation, Uber talking about the last exiting 3 weeks in eVTOL

    UBER announcing the most interesting facts of the last 3 weeks Hundai entering the the eVTOL market with a full designed vehicle, their partnership with UBER and the plan to invest more than 1 Billion Dollars in this field, Joby announcing their partnership with UBER and receiving 590 Million US Dollars in the C round financing, and FAA announcing that they have 6 eVTOL designs in certification .

  • 2020 Transformative Vertical Flight started in San Jose CA

    Fully booked the 2020 Transformative Vertical Flight of the Vertical Flight Society started with a session of US Government agencies .

    Parimal Kopardekar, Director of NASA Aeronautics Research Institute, NASA talks in San Jose
  • European Helicopter Association and EASA to launch EUROPEAN ROTORS fair in November 2020

    The European Helicopter Association (EHA) and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA)  will organize the first  EUROPEAN ROTORS fair in Cologne in November 10-12 2020. It will also integrate the renowned EASA Rotorcraft and VTOL Symposium.

    The fair will include both conventional helicopter and fast-growing eVTOL. The venue for EUROPEAN ROTORS will be Hall 8 and the Congress Centre North of Koelnmesse, Germany. The motto of EUROPEAN ROTORS 2020 is “It’s for everyone”. The market leaders Airbus, Bell, Leonardo and Safran are supporting the new format both through their presence as exhibitors and with an advisory function. 

    The fair aims to offer operators, manufacturers, aviation authorities, the supporting industry, mechanics, pilots, customers and suppliers the opportunity to network and also to be informed on state-of-the-art equipment and services, and direct exchange with manufacturers, operators, Approved Training Organisations (ATOs) and maintenance organisations. Visitors will additionally have the chance to discuss present and future regulations as well as to participate in dedicated training.

    The three-day event will also include the renowned EASA Rotorcraft and VTOL Symposium. Beside the organizers, the service partner is Messe Friedrichshafen, an experienced exhibition and fairs company, which also stages the established aviation show AERO Friedrichshafen.

    Further information, including opening times and prices, is available at  www.europeanrotors.eu

  • The EASA Rotorcraft and VTOL Symposium started in cologne record attendance

    With a record participation of more than 370 professionals the EASA Rotorcraft and VTOL Symposium started in cologne today.

    Rachel Daeschler, acting EASA Certification Director opening the conference which is specialy wateched by the eVTOL scene around the world since EASA published its SC VTOL.

  • the 3rd eflight forum

    v 880 of AutoflightX showed for tbe tirst time at the q3rd eff in Jhijiazhuang. presenters from all over the world gathered for 2 days
  • Scylax new e cooperation with German Island Flyer

    Scylax  from Germany which is developing a 10 seat short range electric twin engine aircraft and demonstrate that with the existing technology is possible to step in the area of commercial electric transportation.

    announce today that the operator FLN  FRISIA-Luftverkehr GmbH Norddeich joined as new shareholder with the goal to bring their practical airliner experience in the development and certification of the new aircraft in order to replace their existing 10 aircraft with the new E10. FNS Frisia connects with their aircraft the North Sea German islands .

    Together with FLN we redefined the aircraft in order to fulfil the airliner requirements:

    – short takeoff and landing

    – landing with strong cross wind

    – robust construction with fix landing gear

    – low noise

    With the existing battery technology we can cover emission free  ( CO2 and noise) a 300 km leg. In about 10 Years more than 600 km.

    The plan is to have in 3 years a demonstrator which will be in the first phase used by Frisia for Ireland  freight , than complete full EASA CS23 certification in max. 8 Years from now. We know that the certification process for such an electric aircraft is very complex. That’s why we fix a realistic certification goal. Of course we will do the best to finish the Certification sooner.

    We concentrate now for raising the investment needed for the demonstrator.

    Short aircraft specifications

    – cruising speed: 300 km/h

    – range:300 km

    – Start and landing distance: under 300 m

    – limit speed Flaps extended (VSO): 50 kts

    – landing up to 40 kts side wind possible

    – full carbon composite structure

    – twin engine (2X260 kW)

    – 10 Seats ( including pilot)

    – seat abreast: Min. 800 mm

    – cabin width:1.35 m

    About FLN Frisia GmbH

    The aviation company FLN Frisia-Luftverkehr GmbH in Norddeich was founded in 1969 to supplement shipping traffic to the East Frisian islands of Juist and Norderney by AG Reederei Norden-Frisia.

    In 2014, the company merged with LFH Luftverkehr from Harle and since then serves as „island fliers“ of the airfields Norddeich and Harle the destinations Juist and Wangerooge in regular service. At the moment „the island pilots“ have a total of 14 Britten-Norman Islander and Cessna 172/182 aircraft. Maintenance and servicing of the aircraft is done by the subsidiary FLT Frisia Luftfahrttechnik GmbH in Harle. The FLN currently employs 60 people at both locations.

    Last year, „the island pilots“ transported a total of 133,000 passengers.

  • Volocopter flew first time in an European city

    On September 14 Volocopter made its urban flight debut at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart. The flight demo was a part of the event  “Vision Smart City — Experience future mobility today” held during the weekend. The flight lasted near 4 minutes at about 30 meters altitude. The video of the complete flight from takeoff to landing is below (you may want to turn up the sound volumn to listen to the sound: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=16&v=mH1zk0KOFho

    One noticeable thing was the low noise level of Volocopter which claims 65 decibel at 75 meters. This noise level is comparable with small helicopters‘ noise level at 500 meters and is about the same as the background road noise in urban environment.

    The flight lasted near 4 minutes at about 30 meters altitude
    your editor Xin Gou and the electric aviation veteran and publisher of e Flight Journal Willi Tacke attended the event and had a ride in Volocopter at zero AGL

  • First eVtol flight at an international airtport in Helsinki

    Helsinki, 30 August 2019 – Yesterday, Volocopter performed a flight at the Helsinki International Airport successfully integrated into both the Air Traffic Management (ATM) and Unmanned Aircraft System Traffic Management (UTM) system. Within the Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR) Programme this demonstration is the final leg of the Gulf of Finland (GOF) u-space project showing how ATM and UTM systems enable Urban Air Mobility (UAM). Urban environments require reliable solutions to enable safe airspace operations given the increasing number of drones and manned aircraft over cities. The GOF U-space flight trial demonstrated how ATM and UTM can act in combination to enable safe and efficient air taxi operation in urban environments, including airports.

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