Joby’s First Production Prototype Receives Special Airworthiness Certificate By Jessica Reed Joby Aviation has achieved a significant breakthrough, the company shared this week. On Wednesday, Joby announced that its first aircraft, manufactured at its Pilot Production Line in Marina, California, has been granted a Special Airworthiness Certificate by the Federal Aviation Administration. This notable achievement propels Joby into the next phase...Read More

Test flights can begin for new electric aircraft By Danny Fullbrook A company has been given approval to develop a new type of electric and sustainable aircraft that does not require a runway. ARC Aero Systems, based at Cranfield in Bedfordshire, has secured Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) certification for a “gyroplane” to support rural areas and emergency rescue services. The...Read More

How Generative AI Will Change the Commercial Aviation Industry By Ryan Schradin IFA Comments: The potential of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies applied to “airworthiness of equipment across the industry”. It will certainly be interesting to see what companies, like Collins Aerospace develop. As artificial intelligence (AI) technologies mature and make their way into the commercial aviation industry, they could deliver...Read More

Aviation Autonomy: Consultation Background The Law Commission has been asked by the Civil Aviation Authority (“CAA”) and Department for Transport (“DfT”) to review the law around autonomous flight, in order to support the safe development of rapidly advancing technology. The three-year review is partly funded by UK Research & Innovation (“UKRI”) through the Future Flight Challenge, delivered by Innovate UK...Read More

MIGHTYFLY Receives Industry First FAA Flight Corridor Approval For Large Autonomous Cargo EVTOL MIGHTYFLY has received an FAA Flight Corridor Approval To Start A-To-B Flight Testing, The First Large Autonomous Cargo EVTOL Company To Reach This Regulatory Milestone MightyFly, a company developing autonomous cargo aircraft for expedited logistics, announced today that it has become the first large autonomous cargo eVTOL...Read More

The LEAP Engine’s Open MRO Ecosystem Expands Its Reach By Jay Stowe, GE Aerospace When the CFM LEAP engine entered service in 2016, it did so with high hopes. CFM International, a 50-50 joint company between GE Aerospace and Safran Aircraft Engines, was confident that the LEAP engine would significantly improve fuel efficiency, reduce noise and CO2 emissions, and enable higher aircraft...Read More

Japan Allocates $33B To Develop Hydrogen-Powered, Next-Gen Airliner; Looks To Challenge China’s COMAC By Ashish Dangwal, The Eur Asian Times In a bid to revitalize its aviation industry and avoid past setbacks, Japan’s government has unveiled an ambitious plan to collaborate with the private sector on the development of a next-generation passenger aircraft.  The plan, announced by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade...Read More

UK Startup Develops “an eVTOL Bus” By Chris Stonor Bristol-based UK startup, Sora Aviation, is developing an eVTOL bus with zero emissions, low noise and affordable ticket prices for the Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) market, writes wearefinn.com, who recently interviewed company co-Founder and CEO, Furqan. Furqan served as the Technical Authority on AAM at GKN and has led multiple electric, hybrid...Read More

‘Harsh’ eVTOL Operating Demands Shorten Battery Life By Hanneke Weitering, Future Flight IFA Comments: Battery management is going to be more than an electrical control system. Monitoring, detecting and repurposing degraded eVTOL batteries could be a major task for aircraft maintainers.   With electric aviation still in its infancy, eVTOL developers have largely been relying on the same lithium-ion battery...Read More

Is the aviation maintenance industry back in business? An interview with Bird Aviation’s Chief Executive Frederik Pralus Do you think the MRO industry has fully recovered from the pandemic years? The MRO industry has made significant strides towards recovery from the pandemic years, but the resumption of normalcy may vary depending on the specific sector of the MRO and the...Read More