As a conscript, a young Rafi Yoeli served in the Israeli Air Force (IAF) as an air traffic controller, studied aeronautical engineering at Tel Aviv University and joined Israeli Aerospace Industries (IAI) in the late 1970s when it was improving the IAI 1124 Westwind business jet, designing the 1125 Astra business jet and state-of-the-art Lavi jet fighter, and developing the Scout UAV for the Israeli Defense Force (IDF).
Seventy-five years ago, on Feb. 25, 1943, 26-year old Edward Katzenberger stood up in a high school gymnasium in Stratford, Connecticut, and called a meeting to order. At that meeting, the participants resolved to establish the American Helicopter Society.
Katzenberger, having joined Sikorsky Aircraft the year before, had been talking with other employees about establishing “The Sikorsky Helicopter Club.”
Erik Lindbergh, grandson of famed aviators Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh, has founded VerdeGo Aero, “an innovative new aerospace company with a mission to provide the upcoming multi-billion-dollar urban transportation market with a safe, clean, and quiet hybrid-electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft that can fly piloted or autonomously.”
Uber announced on Nov. 8 that it had signed a Space Act Agreement with NASA for “the development of new Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM) concepts and Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) that will enable safe and efficient operations of small UAS at low altitudes.” Uber’s participation in NASA’s UTM Project will aid the company in conducting demonstration flights of UberAIR in two US cities by 2020.
In early November, A³ by Airbus — the Silicon Valley outpost of the Airbus Group — announced that it had moved its single-seat Vahana eVTOL demonstrator from “The Nest” in Santa Clara, California (shown above), to Pendleton, Oregon.
eVTOL.news is proud to present the English-language premiere of the SKYLYS Aircraft "AO" ducted fan electric VTOL air speeder: /skylys-ao/
The SKYLYS Aircraft AO is a small passenger vehicle, which it calls an "air speed," being designed for efficient transportation in urban environments. The prototype is under assembly with first flight planned within 12 months.
