Joby Aviation, the S Four Tilt-Rotor, and the FAA Certification Process Nobody Had a Template For
Joby Aviation's S4 tilt-rotor eVTOL is the furthest along in FAA type certification, navigating a process the agency has never run before.
Vectorelectric aircraft
Joby Aviation, the S Four, and the FAA Certification Gauntlet That Will Decide Whether Electric Air Taxis Fly Before the End of the Decade
Joby Aviation's S4 is the most advanced attempt to certify a powered-lift electric air taxi, navigating an unprecedented FAA process targeting commercial operations by 2026–2027.
VectorThe Pipistrel Velis Electro, the FAA Exemption, and the Electric Trainer That Is Quietly Rewriting What a First Solo Might Sound Like
The Pipistrel Velis Electro, the world's first type-certified electric aircraft, now has FAA approval to train American pilots - and it could reshape how the first hours of flight school look.
TowerThe Pipistrel Velis Electro, EASA's First Type-Certified Electric Trainer, and What Six Years of Flight School Data Tell Us About the Electric Revolution
Six years of European flight school data on the world's first type-certified electric aircraft reveal what electric training actually looks like in practice.
VectorThe Pipistrel Velis Electro, the First Type Certificate for an Electric Aircraft, and the Regulatory Mountain That Nobody Had a Map For
The Pipistrel Velis Electro became the world's first fully electric aircraft to receive a production type certificate, issued by EASA on June 9, 2020.
VectorBeta Technologies, the ALIA Two Fifty, and the Charging Network Strategy That Sets This Electric Startup Apart
Beta Technologies is solving electric aviation's chicken-and-egg infrastructure problem by building both the aircraft and the charging network simultaneously.
VectorThe Eviation Alice, the All-Electric Nine-Passenger Commuter, and the Battery Physics Standing Between First Flight and Your Boarding Pass
The Eviation Alice completed its first flight in September 2022, but battery physics and a long certification road separate that milestone from commercial airline service.
VectorThe Pipistrel Velis Electro, EASA Type Certification, and the Electric Trainer That's Already Logging Hours at Flight Schools
The Pipistrel Velis Electro became the world's first type-certificated electric aircraft in June 2020, and it's actively training students at flight schools across Europe and the US.
VectorThe Pipistrel Velis Electro, the World's First Type-Certified Electric Aircraft, and the Battery Standards That Changed How Regulators Think About Electric Propulsion
The Pipistrel Velis Electro became the world's first fully type-certified electric aircraft in June 2020, establishing the battery safety standards now used across the entire electric aviation industry.
VectorJoby Aviation, the S Four, and the FAA Certification Gauntlet That Will Set the Template for Every eVTOL That Follows
Joby Aviation's S4 eVTOL is deep in FAA certification - and the regulatory framework it establishes will govern every electric air taxi that follows.
VectorThe Eviation Alice, the Nine-Passenger Battery-Electric Commuter, and the Physics Standing Between a Real First Flight and a Real Airline Route
The Eviation Alice flew in 2022, but turning an 820 kWh battery-electric commuter into a certified airline product still requires years of unglamorous work.
VectorJoby's S Four, the FAA Powered-Lift Certificate, and the Real Distance Between Air Taxi Hype and Your City's Skyline
Joby Aviation's S4 has logged 1,000+ test flights and holds an FAA air carrier certificate - here's where certification actually stands and what it means for pilots.
VectorThe Pipistrel Velis Electro, the First Type-Certified Electric Airplane, and What a Fifty-Minute Battery Really Buys a Flight School
The Pipistrel Velis Electro is the world's first type-certified electric airplane - here's what its 50-minute battery really means for flight schools.
VectorBeta Technologies, the ALIA, and the Lift-Plus-Cruise Bet That Skips the Tilt-Rotor Entirely
Why Beta Technologies skipped the tilt-rotor for a simpler lift-plus-cruise eVTOL design, and what that bet means for certification and pilots.
VectorRegent Craft, the Viceroy Seaglider, and the Wing-In-Ground-Effect Machine That Flies Low Enough to Be a Boat and Fast Enough to Be an Airplane
How Regent Craft's electric Viceroy seaglider uses wing-in-ground effect and fly-by-wire to make a 60-year-old idea finally flyable.
VectorJoby Aviation, the S4 Air Taxi, and What Five Stages of FAA Certification Really Tell You About When You'll Actually Ride One
Joby's S4 air taxi is deep in FAA certification, but the paperwork - not the flying - decides when you'll actually ride one.
VectorThe Pipistrel Velis Electro, the First Type-Certified Electric Airplane, and the Slovenian Trainer That Made Battery Flight Legal
The Pipistrel Velis Electro became the first type-certified electric airplane in June 2020, making battery-powered flight training legal.
VectorThe Rolls-Royce Spirit of Innovation, the Fastest All-Electric Airplane, and What a Three Hundred Eighty-Seven Mile-Per-Hour Speed Record Really Taught the Engineers
How the Rolls-Royce Spirit of Innovation set a 387 mph electric flight record - and why the real breakthrough was battery heat, not speed.
VectorWhisper Aero and the Quiet Revolution, Three Piloted Flights of the Electric Ducted-Fan Swift Glider
Whisper Aero flew its electric ducted-fan Swift glider on three piloted flights, marking the start of real-world testing for its ultra-quiet propulsion.
TowerBETA Technologies Brings Its Electric Alia to Galveston for Three Weeks of Texas Test Flights
BETA Technologies launched a three-week electric aircraft flight test campaign at Galveston's Scholes International Airport.
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