Autonomous Flight and Powered Lift Take Center Stage at Oshkosh and Farnborough
Merlin Labs flew an autonomous Cessna at Oshkosh and Vertical Aerospace completed a full eVTOL transition at Farnborough - here's what it means for pilots.
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Joby's Electric Tilt-Rotor, the Six Props That Swivel, and the Air Taxi Betting Everything on Transition Flight, From the Innovation Displays at Oshkosh
Joby's six-prop electric tilt-rotor bets everything on transition flight - here's the engineering, the promise, and the real hurdles ahead.
VectorSimplified Vehicle Operations and the Fly-By-Intent Control Law That Wants to Make an Air Taxi as Easy to Fly as a Drone, From the Innovation Displays at AirVenture
Simplified Vehicle Operations lets a flight computer translate pilot intent into motor commands, making eVTOL air taxis flyable - and reshaping safety.
VectorThe Powered-Lift Category, the FAA's New SFAR, and Teaching Pilots to Fly the Thing That Takes Off Like a Helicopter and Cruises Like an Airplane
The FAA's fall 2024 powered-lift SFAR created a third pilot category, clearing the biggest hidden barrier to electric air taxis.
VectorSkyfly's Axe eVTOL Comes Back to Oshkosh - The Fixed-Wing Air Taxi That Wants to Fly Like an Airplane
Skyfly's Axe eVTOL returned to Oshkosh 2026 with a tandem-wing design that flies like an airplane, betting on aerodynamic efficiency over rotors.
TowerPowered Lift, the New Rating Category, and the eVTOL Demonstrators Parked on the Oshkosh Innovation Ramp
In October 2024 the FAA created powered lift, the first new civil aircraft category in ~80 years - here's what it means for pilots.
VectorDistributed Electric Propulsion and the NASA X Fifty-Seven Maxwell, the Fourteen-Motor Wing That Rewrote the Rules Before It Ever Flew
NASA's X-57 Maxwell never flew, but its 14-motor wing proved distributed electric propulsion and reshaped today's eVTOL and air taxi designs.
VectorBeta Technologies ALIA and the Case for Electric Airplanes That Take Off Like Airplanes
Radio Hangar explores Beta Technologies ALIA and the Case for Electric Airplanes That Take Off Like Airplanes.
VectorTwo Hundred Fifty Watt-Hours Per Kilogram and the Battery Energy Wall Standing Between Electric Motors and Real Range
Why battery specific energy - not motors or software - is the physics wall blocking real range for electric aircraft, and when that changes.
VectorVertical Aerospace, Sigma Air Mobility, and the Business-Aviation Bet on the V X Four at Farnborough
Radio Hangar explores Vertical Aerospace, Sigma Air Mobility, and the Business-Aviation Bet on the V X Four at Farnborough.
TowerThe Crew Dragon Flight Deck: What SpaceX's Touchscreen Spacecraft Reveals About the Future of Cockpit Design
SpaceX's touchscreen-only Crew Dragon flight deck upends decades of cockpit design philosophy, with certified engineering solutions that directly shape aviation's automated future.
VectorThe EHang EH Two Sixteen-S: The World's First Type-Certificated eVTOL and the Cockpit That Has No Controls
China's EHang EH216-S became the world's first type-certificated eVTOL in October 2023 - a fully autonomous, pilotless aircraft already carrying passengers commercially.
VectorJoby Aviation's S Four and the Type Certificate That Had to Be Invented From Scratch
Joby Aviation's S4 eVTOL is navigating the most complex FAA type certification in U.S. aviation history, forcing regulators to write new rules from scratch.
VectorThe NASA X-57 Maxwell and the Distributed Electric Propulsion Experiment That Rewrote Wing Design Theory
NASA's X-57 Maxwell validated the core aerodynamics of distributed electric propulsion while revealing the systems integration challenges that will define the next decade of electric aircraft development.
VectorWisk Aero Gen Six - The Air Taxi That Has No Pilot Seat and the FAA Certification Problem Nobody Has Solved Yet
Wisk Aero's Gen Six is the only near-term commercial eVTOL designed with no pilot seat - and its FAA certification path is rewriting aviation safety standards from scratch.
VectorThe Lilium Jet and the Bankruptcy That Couldn't Kill It - How the eVTOL Industry's Most Unconventional Bet Collapsed and Why Someone Bought It Back
Lilium's 2024 bankruptcy didn't end its ducted-fan eVTOL program - a rapid asset acquisition revived the company, raising critical questions about where electric aviation is headed.
VectorJoby Aviation and the S4 - The Air Taxi That Has to Invent Its Own Certification Category
Joby Aviation's S4 electric air taxi is the furthest along any eVTOL program has ever gotten in FAA certification - here's what the aircraft does, where the process stands, and what it means for pilots.
VectorWisk Aero and the Generation Six - the Only Air Taxi Being Built Without a Pilot Seat
Wisk Aero's Generation Six is the only eVTOL aircraft in development with no pilot seat - a full autonomous bet backed by $450 million from Boeing.
VectorElectra Aero and the Blown-Lift eSTOL Aircraft That Wants to Make Every Small Airport Matter Again
Electra Aero's blown-lift eSTOL technology can operate from runways as short as 150 feet, positioning it as a practical alternative to eVTOL for regional air mobility.
VectorWhisper Aero and the electric ducted fan betting it can make an airplane quiet enough to disappear
Whisper Aero is attacking aircraft noise by shifting it above human hearing - here's the physics, the business, and why it matters for pilots.
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