Joby Aviation has delivered an air taxi to the Edwards Air Force Base in California about six months ahead of schedule, marking the first-ever delivery of an eVTOL aircraft to a paying customer in the U.S., the company announced on September 25. This is the first of up to nine eVTOL aircraft that Joby intends to deliver to the U.S. Air Force under its $131 million Afwerx Agility Prime contract. The second delivery is on track to arrive in early 2024, Joby executive chairman Paul Sciarra said during a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Edwards.

Nearly three months after Universal Hydrogen relocated its Dash 8 aircraft testbed from Washington state to Southern California, the hydrogen fuel cell-powered airplane has kicked off a two-year flight test campaign. The converted turboprop, nicknamed “Lightning McClean,” took off from the Mojave Air & Space Port on September 26 and completed a 20-minute sortie.

Working with Loughborough University in the UK and Germany's DLR aerospace research agency, Rolls-Royce has achieved a breakthrough in managing the combustion process with new fuel spray nozzles. Using a Pearl 700 business jet turbofan, the partners proved that hydrogen can produce maximum takeoff thrust, paving the way for further work on larger engines.

With the first fuselages for its Lilium Jet prototypes already being built, Lilium this week confirmed that it has begun to assemble its distinctive ducted fan electric propulsion system. Each of the 30 electric motors forming part of the powertrain will deliver a power density of 100 kilowatts.

VoltAero has successfully flown its hybrid-electric Cassio testbed using 100 percent sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) provided by TotalEnergies. According to VoltAero, this was the first time any aircraft with a hybrid-electric powertrain has flown on pure SAF, a biofuel that is typically blended with traditional jet fuel. 

Supernal, Hyundai’s urban air mobility subsidiary, has officially opened its research and development facility in Fremont, California. Located right on the edge of Silicon Valley, the 72,000-sq-ft facility is dedicated to the advancement of batteries, autonomous systems, and other technologies that will enable electric air travel and urban air mobility. 

GKN Aerospace will lead efforts to develop the high-voltage, high-power electrical wiring interconnection system needed for a hybrid-electric propulsion system that is expected to start flight testing in 2024. The project is being led by Raytheon Technologies companies Pratt & Whitney and Collins Aerospace and is expected to lead to the development of a propulsion system delivering a 30 percent improvement in fuel efficiency and reduced carbon dioxide emissions compared with current regional airliners.

Britten-Norman and Cranfield Aerospace Solutions pause merger plan. Plus, Volatus and Ace VTOL say the Oceania region may need 700 vertiports; Heron Airbridge partners with SITA for vertiport management; Terra Drone launches agricultural division in Southeast Asia; Bye Aerospace reports FAA functional hazard analysis for eFlyer 2; Britten-Norman and Cranfield Aerospace Solutions pause merger plan; and energy distributor Mieeg teams with eVertiSky.

Solar Stratos founder Raphael Domjan and his team have built an aircraft that runs entirely on power from the sun to demonstrate flight to the edge of space without emitting any carbon. He admits this is a challenging adventure that will represent a first for green aviation and require pilots to fly to 50,000 feet or higher in a small electric aircraft that operates like a glider. During the Paris Air Show earlier this year, the AIN video news team had the chance to learn more about this no-compromise approach to decarbonizing aviation.