On October 28, the Canadian Advanced Air Mobility (CAAM) Consortium held its global launch event, ushering in what its organizers hope will be a new era of flight in the Great White North. Twenty stakeholders from industry, academia, and local community groups are involved in the group.

Seoul-based Aerospace9 has agreed to buy at least 300 of Bye's electric aircraft, including both the eFlyer2 and eFlyer4, as well as the first examples of a new twin-motor nine-seater model called the Envoy.

A new search of U.S. Patent and Trademark Office records conducted by the Vertical Flight Society has illuminated the extensive portfolio of intellectual property held by the parent company and founder of eVTOL pioneer Joby Aviation.

Around $10 million will be available through a tranche of government-backed funding via the Aerospace Technology Institute starting in early 2021. This is part of a much wider set of funding opportunities to support moves towards zero-carbon-emissions aviation.

Each organization chosen by the U.S. Air Force's Afwerx unit for phase-one research and development contracts will receive $150,000. They will be eligible to be considered for phase-two contracts as part of the wider Agility Prime program, worth between $750,000 and $1.5 million.

Belgium-based aerostructures specialist Sonaca will oversee the design and engineering transition from the current Cassio testbed to the production versions of the four- to 10-seat hybrid-electric aircraft family.

Australia-based Alauda is convinced that air races will be an important launchpad for flying cars. In October it posted a video, giving the inside story of how it is developing electric-powered eVTOL aircraft to compete in its planned Airspeeder racing series.

The company has built a Mark 3 full-scale prototype, which it will test without a pilot on board as it finalizes plans for the Mark 4 piloted version that will be used for racing. The company is working on collision avoidance technology that will be required for safe, high-speed racing, and, in the longer term, for consumer-certified flying cars.

Joby Aviation has been working on eVTOL plans for close to a decade and received a major boost in January 2020 when it raised a further $590 million in funding, with major support from Japanese automotive group Toyota.