2024 Corporate Aviation Leadership Summit

Volocopter and aviation training group CAE are together making&nbsp;plans to train pilots for eVTOL aircraft operations. Under an agreement announced on July 8, the companies say they will develop, certify, and deploy a pilot training&nbsp;program to support the launch of commercial operations, which are anticipated to begin&nbsp;in 2024.
The agreement commits&nbsp;CAE&nbsp;to invest up to $40 million to meet Volocopter’s projected demand for eVTOL pilots in the early years of operations. The Canada-based group will deploy training equipment and instructors through a global partnership, with the initial training services expected to be provided outside Europe.
Germany-based Volocopter has agreed to purchase a simulator from CAE to be used in its pilot training program certification. According to the company, this simulator will be developed specifically for eVTOL aircraft operations and will be equipped to train pilots to fly any of Volocopter’s in-development vehicles, including the two-seat VoloCity and the larger VoloConnect model. A spokeswoman told FutureFlight &nbsp;that Volocopter will not need type-specific simulators&nbsp;“because flying an eVTOL will be much less complex than flying current aircraft types.”
To develop simulators and the overall training program, CAE says, it will employ new technologies including artificial intelligence, virtual reality, mixed reality, and data analytics. The company will be responsible for developing all courseware for training Volocopter pilots and will provide trainees with customized resources. 
According to Volocopter, its initial business model will involve recruiting its pilots for its own commercial operations. The company says it remains open to the possibility of working with operating partners. Existing partners for its plans include Aeroports de Paris (since services are due to start in the French capital in time for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games), automotive group Daimler, and Microsoft Azure.
“As we scale our urban air mobility services in cities around the world, specific pilot training and qualification for our Volocopters will be an important element,” said Volocopter CEO Florian Reuter. “We are proud to be working with CAE, who have a track record in developing best-in-class, innovative pilot training solutions for new aircraft programs. It will be a great benefit to Volocopter’s entry-into-service timeline and scale.”
Through its collaboration with CAE, Volocopter will continue to work with aviation regulators to establish experience requirements for pilots. The company indicated that it intends to recruit and train both experienced and new pilots.
“There will be a big demand for pilots, so we are not limiting the choices here,” said the spokeswoman. “In the end, it will depend on what skills and education are necessary at the very beginning and later down the line.” 
Early this month, CAE published&nbsp;a white paper on training needs for the advanced air mobility sector in which it estimated that operators will require around 60,000 pilots in the first decade of commercial services. On July 7, Christopher Courtney, CAE’s director of advanced air mobility, told journalists in a briefing organized by the Vertical Flight Society that it typically takes manufacturers of existing “conventional” aircraft 36 months or more to develop a training program ahead of service entry. 
“There are more complications with these new aircraft so they [eVTOL aircraft developers and operators] can’t think of this [training requirement] at the last minute,” he commented. “They need to be on it two or three years out. Investors won’t be happy with last-minute delays, and you don’t want training objectives being the reason you don’t hit your financial objectives.”

Managing Editor

Charles Alcock

CAE and Volocopter Launch Collaboration To Train eVTOL Aircraft Pilots

Volocopter is close to attaining EASA’s Part 21G Production Organization Approval (POA) through the acquisition of German light aircraft manufacturer DG Flugzeugbau. On the basis of a July 6 announcement, the company says that when the transaction closes later this summer it will the first and only eVTOL aircraft developer to hold both a POA and design organization approval (DOA), having attained the European aviation safety agency’s Part 21J clearance in 2019.
DG Flugzeugbau, which has been making composite gliders since 1973, has supported Volocopter since its formation in 2011 by helping to construct prototypes for its VC200, 2X, VoloDrone, and VoloCity aircraft. Both companies are based in the southern German town of Bruchsal. 
Through the acquisition, for which the purchase price has not been disclosed, Volocopter will integrate its own production and workshop teams with DG Flugzeugbau’s production and EASA Part 21G POA units. The company will now trade under the name DG Aviation and will continue to produce gliders as well as providing EASA-approved maintenance services.
The joint DG and Volocopter team is building the first full prototype for the two-seat VoloCity eVTOL. The company aims to have this certified and ready to start commercial operations during the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris.
According to Volocopter, the manufacturing of prototypes and blueprint versions of its eVTOL aircraft, including the new, larger, and longer-range VoloConnect model, will be done by DG Aviation for the foreseeable future. When large-scale production is achieved, Volocopter will look to move some production closer to the markets it is serving, including Europe, Asia, and North America.
“Having this legendary industry leader on our side to kick-start scalable and affordable urban air mobility for people and cargo has been a game-changer,” said Volocopter CEO Florian Reuter. “Today marks an exciting milestone as we unify DG Flugzeugbau’s leadership in aviation production with Volocopter’s pioneering UAM goals to establish yet another crucial stepping-stone for our collective global endeavors.”
DG Flugzeugbau has produced numerous glider models over the past five decades, including the World Championship-winning Red Bull Air Race planes. “We have always continued to strive for perfection through unique innovation with gliders, vast aerodynamic improvements, and, for the past 10 years, with Volocopter’s eVTOLs,” commented CEO Holger Back. “We see the future in these aircraft and are excited to combine a section of our company with Volocopter to invest in the future of sustainable aviation while continuing our tradition of building gliders and maintaining aircraft.”
Other suppliers so far named by Volocopter include Diehl Aerospace, which is providing the flight control computer, and Autoflug for seats.
&nbsp;

Volocopter Secures EASA Production Approval Through Acquisition of Manufacturing Partner

Volocopter is partnering with Near Earth Autonomy to complete the development of autonomous flight technology for its unmanned VoloDrone freight-carrying eVTOL aircraft. Pittsburgh-based Near Earth will provide hardware that will be integrated and tested with autonomous flight control software being developed by Volocopter.
The companies plan to demonstrate the systems in a beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) flight demonstration to be conducted during 2022 in Munich, close to where Volocopter is based. In a May 27 announcement, they said that the joint project will aim to establish standardized BVLOS missions for the VoloDrone in providing business-to-business transportation services.
The all-electric VoloDrone is expected to be able to carry a payload of 200 kg (440 pounds) on flights of up to around 40 km (25 miles). With BVLOS autonomous capability, Volocopter estimates the projected market for VoloDrone services to be around $120 billion by 2035. 
The German company aims to start commercial operations with both the VoloDrone and the passenger-carrying VoloCopter model within the next three years. Eventually, it aims to certify the two-seat VoloCopter for autonomous operations, but the partnership with Near&nbsp;Earth is confined to the freight aircraft for now. It is also working on the four-seat VoloConnect aircraft, which will be able to fly up to around 60 miles when it enters service in 2026.
"We are very excited to work together with the leading player in the aerial autonomy industry," said Christophe Hommet, Volocopter's chief engineer for the VoloDrone program. "Near Earth Autonomy has years of experience, shown real results, and is going to help our VoloDrone stay ahead of the curve with autonomous capabilities."
Volocopter has been flight-testing its eVTOL designs for almost 10 years, logging more than 1,000 flight tests with several prototypes. Near Earth says that it has conducted 3,500 flight tests lasting over 2,000 flight hours with its technology installed on several different aircraft types. Its technology is intended to support autonomous aircraft flight without GPS support.
Working with logistics group DB Schenker, which is an investor in the company, Volocopter recently started operational trials to understand how the VoloDrone can be integrated into the cargo delivery process. These are in progress at one of DB Schenker’s facilities in Germany. 
&nbsp;
&nbsp;

Volocopter and Near Earth Join Forces to Develop Autonomous System For VoloDrone

Volocopter today announced plans to bring a larger, longer-range eVTOL aircraft into operation by 2026 to serve markets beyond those addressed by its VoloCity model. The all-electric VoloConnect will have four seats, with a range of up to 60 miles and a cruise speed of 110 mph (rising to a top speed of around 155 mph).
Unveiling the new lift-and-push concept during the EBACE Connect event, the German company said&nbsp;its engineering team, led by chief engineer Sebastian Mores, has been working on the design for more than two years and has filed several patents for the technology used. The aircraft features a wing connected to a V-shaped tail by a pair of parallel beams supporting six sets of electric motors and rotors. To the rear of the fuselage, there is a pair of ducted fans to support cruise flight.
Like the two-seat VoloCity, Volocopter intends to certify the VoloConnect under EASA’s new Special Conditions-VTOL rules. The VoloCity is limited to a range of just 22 miles and a speed of 60 mph. The company is also developing an autonomous freight-carrying version called the VoloDrone, which will have the same performance in terms of range and payload. All three models will feature batteries that can be quickly swapped between flights, but the&nbsp;company has yet to demonstrate this capability.
Among immediate competitors, the VoloConnect is closest to Archer's planned eVTOL, which is expected to have a range of 60 miles and a maximum speed of 150 mph. Both Joby and Lilium are promising increased performance of, respectively, 150 miles/200mph and 155 miles/175 mph.
“We can now cover all segments of the $290 billion urban air mobility market,” Volocopter CEO Florian Reuter told reporters. “We will offer a seamless end-to-end customer experience through our VoloIQ digital platform.”
Volocopter sees the VoloCity aircraft accounting for $110 billion in revenues from urban services by 2035, with the VoloConnect operations between cities bringing in an additional $60 billion. The company anticipates that the VoloDrone will generate $120 billion in revenues by the time, including $50 billion from “on-site transport,” $30 billion from “urban parcel” deliveries, and $40 billion for flights in remote areas.
Reuter confirmed that the company aims for the smaller VoloCity aircraft to begin commercial operations before the end of 2023, with Paris and Singapore still likely to be the cities in which its air taxi services launch. He said the company has ambitions to build and operate as many as 100,000 aircraft.&nbsp;According to Reuter, the VoloCity has sufficient range to offer connections between&nbsp;93 of the world's top 100 airports and their respective city centers.
Earlier this year, Volocopter raised a further $240 million in its latest private funding round, taking its total capital raised since its launch in 2011 to almost $400 million. “We see huge interest, including from the public investment community, and we are confident we can raise the necessary [further] funding,” Reuter said. “We are having interesting conversations with numerous investors for different [investment] routes.”
Several of Volocopter’s rival eVTOL developers have announced plans to raise significant amounts of funding through initial public offerings via mergers with special purpose acquisition companies. Volocopter has long been rumored to be considering this approach as well.
Volocopter says it will work with partners to develop vertiports and other ground infrastructure. Initially, it intends to operate from existing heliports, having added recharging facilities.
For the most part, Volocopter intends to retain direct control of commercial operations. However, Reuter indicated that in some markets it may work with partners, such as in China where the country's Geely automotive group is one of its financial backers.
The VoloConnect is the company's fifth-generation eVTOL design, following on from earlier iterations including the VC200 and the 2X. Initially, the aircraft will be operated with a pilot on board, but Volocopter intends to transition to autonomous operations once the regulatory environment will support this move.

Volocopter Adds Larger, Longer-range eVTOL to Its Portfolio

Volocopter this week went public with its plans to introduce air taxi operations with its eVTOL aircraft into the U.S. market. In a January 15 announcement, the German startup said that the FAA has accepted its application to concurrently validate the EASA type certification it expects secure in the next two or three years.
The company said that its application was accepted by the FAA on December 22. According to a spokeswoman, the U.S. agency has indicated a willingness to consider an alternative basis for certification to the new Special Condition VTOL (SC-VTOL) certification process now being finalized by EASA. This would be the new 14 CFR 21.17 (b) special class, which is intended for aircraft that don’t fit the amended versions of existing Part 23 rules for eVTOL designs with conventional takeoff capability (as per 14 CFR Part 23 Amendment 64) or Part 27 for rotorcraft (as per 14 CFR Part 27).
Later this year, Europe’s EASA is expected to confirm means of compliance for its new Special Condition VTOL certification process, and Volocopter is pursuing this approval for its two-seat, all-electric VoloCity aircraft. Volocopter already holds EASA Design Organization Approval, giving it the required license to develop and build certified aircraft.
“What EASA did when building SC-VTOL was to combine CS-23 Amendment 5 [EASA's equivalent to the U.S. 14 CFR Part 23 Amendment 64] with additional safety objectives that it derived from CS-27 [Part 27] for the relevant aspects of the aircraft,” said Volocopter in a written explanation. “This is exactly what FAA has in mind when developing the certification basis per 21.17 (b). This in turn allows the FAA to widely accept what EASA is requiring from the product. This will lead to great overlap in requirements, offering the potential for a smooth and straightforward validation through FAA.”
Volocopter said it sees potential to launch intra-city air taxi services in major metropolitan areas such as New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington, DC. Initially, the VoloCity would fly with a pilot, meaning only one passenger seat would be available, but the aircraft is intended for autonomous operations.&nbsp;Observers have questioned how Washington, DC, could be considered for eVTOL air taxi services, in view of the no-fly zone in place there for security reasons.&nbsp;
In 2020, the company announced its involvement with local partners looking at potential air taxi operations in Paris and Singapore. It has previously explored Dubai as&nbsp;a possible launch market. In 2018, Volocopter conducted an indoor, tethered&nbsp;demonstration flight (behind protective glass) in Las Vegas during that year’s Consumer Electronics Show.
Working in partnership with UK-based Skyports, Volocopter has developed the VoloPort concept for the vertiport ground facilities it envisages for the planned air taxi services. The company says it is already has had contact with officials in some of the U.S. cities it has in mind.
“At the beginning, we can refit the existing helipad infrastructure for our purposes,” Volocopter’s spokeswoman told FutureFlight. “It will just need a few adaptations so we can perform our battery swap, for example. Looking further down the line, we are working together with airports and real estate partners to provide ground infrastructure.”
Volocopter already has U.S.-based partners in the shape of two of its investors, Intel and Micron. The planned air taxi services will be managed through its VoloIQ customer interface platform.
In November 2020, rival eVTOL aircraft developer&nbsp;Lilium announced plans&nbsp;to establish longer-range services in Florida. These are set to begin out of a purpose-built vertiport to be built in partnership with Tavistock Development at its Lake Nona project near Orlando. The operation, using Lilium’s five-seat aircraft, is expected to begin in 2025, and for that aircraft, the manufacturer is pursuing certification under EASA's SC-VTOL&nbsp;and FAA Part 23 rules.
In December the envisaged U.S. market for eVTOL air taxi services was shaken up by the news that ride-hailing giant Uber had sold its&nbsp;Uber Elevate platform&nbsp;to Joby Aviation. Uber had been a standard-bearer for so-called urban air mobility operations, and Joby was one of ten manufacturing partners for its planned network. Joby intends to launch its own services, perhaps picking up on Uber’s intention to start with Dallas and Los Angeles as early-adopter cities, but Uber’s departure from the nascent market has perhaps created a void that companies like Volocopter are now seeking to fill.

Volocopter Makes a Move on the U.S. Urban Air Mobility Market

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) today awarded Design Organization Approval (DOA) to eVTOL aircraft developer Volocopter. As an approved design organization, the company now has a higher level of authority to conduct tasks associated with the development and manufacturing of aircraft under EASA rules and process.
Volocopter claims to be the first eVTOL start-up company to receive the DOA clearance from EASA. The German company says this will give it a competitive edge in being able to accelerate the pace of getting its aircraft into production.
The DOA process means that EASA exercises its oversight of approved companies as a whole. This reduces the number of steps that have to be completed on the path to granting type certification and airworthiness approval for products.
“Awarding the first DOA with a scope of work for VTOL is a milestone for industry,” commented EASA executive director Patrick Ky. “We are happy about the successful cooperation and the fact that our safety standards are now part of the rising eVTOL market.”
In July 2019, EASA published its new <a href="https://www.easa.europa.eu/sites/default/files/dfu/SC-VTOL-01.pdf">Special Condition rules</a> for certifying VTOL aircraft. Volocopter is seeking&nbsp;type certification for its VoloCity aircraft by the end of 2022.

EASA Grants First Design Organization Approval to eVTOL Developer Volocopter

News and developments about airplanes, helicopters and unmanned air vehicles used in all varieties of operations, including airlines, military, business, commercial, general aviation and private.

News and issues relating to business, corporate and private aviation, primarily regarding turbine-engine-powered airplanes and helicopters. Subjects include aircraft, engines, maintenance, operations, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security, and training.

Volocopter

News

CAE and Volocopter Launch Collaboration To Train eVTOL Aircraft Pilots

Volocopter Secures EASA Production Approval Through Acquisition of Manufacturing Partner

Volocopter and Near Earth Join Forces to Develop Autonomous System For VoloDrone

Volocopter Adds Larger, Longer-range eVTOL to Its Portfolio

Volocopter Makes a Move on the U.S. Urban Air Mobility Market

EASA Grants First Design Organization Approval to eVTOL Developer Volocopter

Volocopter Unveils VoloCity, Its First Production eVTOL

AIN Products

SUBSCRIPTIONS

RESOURCES

ABOUT AIN