Important Innovations Collection

 Big Competition for $49 Billion Helicopter Industry                                                                                Source:  AIR AIR's Flying Taxis 200 companies around the world are developing eVTOLs that could prove to be big disruptors of the $49 billion helicopter industry. Flying taxi company AIR is a primary example with impressive tech: Israel and California based AIR has developed a powerful, electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicle (eVTOL) with a multi-market focus, including displacing helicopters as transit to and from yachts AIR is partnering with the non-profit International SeaKeepers Society to build an air taxi business within the yachting community to ferry passengers, cargo and supplies back and forth betwee...

Airbus-Aston Martin to Produce Another Series of Luxury Choppers                                                                      Source:  Aston Martin ACH 130 Aston Martin Helicopters The luxury carmaker favored by 007 secret agent James Bond - Aston Martin - has gone airborne with a sleek and very sophisticated helicopter, the ACH 130.  It just showed up in the US on its way to a buyer in Texas.  Another one has just been purchased by a buyer in South America.  Orders have also come in from Europe, Canada and Southeast Asia.  The ACH 130 is the result of a partnership between global aerospace and aviation leader Airbus' Airbus Corporate Helicopters and the legendary automaker Aston Martin.  It is a flying vehicle worthy of its own James Bond movie....

Windy City Air Taxi Testing Underway                                                       Source: Eve Chicago Accelerates the Dawn of Cities With Flying Taxis In what appears to be a world first, Embraer's Eve eVTOLs have been participating in real-world simulated test flights in Chicago, using helicopters as substitutes for the eVTOL flying taxis.  The test program is called the Chicago XP program and it has been taking place throughout September 2022.  So far, it is quite a success.  The helicopters, which take off and land vertically like an eVTOL which are not authorized yet to fly, have been operating out of three Chicago area heliports.  Passengers are able to use tablets with special software to see how the eVTOLs and vertiports in real, operational mode would look and work. Why the Simulations? Eve ai...

Airbus & Aston Martin's ACH130 Aston Martin Edition                                       Source:  Airbus & Aston Martin Sleek, Mean Flying Machine Britain-based, luxury automaker Aston Martin and France-based, aerospace giant Airbus are partnering again on a highly successful custom-built helicopter called the ACH130 Aston Martin Edition that they launched in 2020.  They built 15 of the aircraft. The vehicles just about immediately sold out to customers in North America, Latin America, New Zeeland, Asia and Europe.  The two companies just announced that they are going to build at least 15 more because of the strong and what they call "unanticipated" demand.  The ACH130 is sleek, posh, flies on a single engine and is loaded with highly advanced aviation technology.  It is worthy of Agent 007 James Bond, whose favorite car was the A...

HyPoint & Piasecki Helicopter Partnership                                   Source:  HyPoint & Piasecki Zero Emissions, Hydrogen Flying For Helicopter & eVTOLS New hydrogen fuel cell technology and a new partnership are putting the development of hydrogen powered, helicopters and eVTOLs on the fast track. California based HyPoint, which is developing turbo-air cooled hydrogen fuel cell systems for aviation, has entered into a collaborative development agreement with helicopter manufacturer Piasecki Aircraft Company.  Their intent is to develop and certify hydrogen fuel cell systems for helicopters and eVTOLS to foster a new era of zero emissions, green flying. Global eVTOL Marketplace The two companies will develop a 650 kW hydrogen fuel cell system for Piasecki's eVTOL PA-890 Compound Helicopter.  The vehicle will be the world's 1st, manned, hydrogen powered he...

Next-G, Helicopter Command Post Source:  Airbus Website Helicopter Travel's Future:  The H145 This is one of the world's most advanced military helicopters and it's still being developed to include more next-G technology.  The Airbus H145 is a multi-role helicopter that essentially functions as a flying computer.  Designed for the military, it's being developed and outfitted as a flying command post.  Airbus says it can be used for armed reconnaissance, weapons fire support, evacuation of the wounded and to rescue hostages.  C5 Capabilities Airbus is focused on expanding the vehicle's C5 capabilities, including command, control, communications, computers and collaboration/intelligence.  The H145 is a look at the future of military helicopter travel in battle zones. Brand New, Innovative Technologies The Airbus helicopter is a light, twin engine vehicle.  It can maneuver at low level altitudes where fixed wing aircraft and UAVs canno...

Ring Shaped, Bicopter Drone Source:  EPFL - Samir Bouabdallah & his Ring Drone Flybotix This new, novel drone Flybotix can fly twice as long as conventional models, including a quadcopter of the same size.  The drone is only a foot wide and flies with two, counter-rotating propellers that are stacked inside the body of the drone.  It also has an advanced, algorithm-based stabilization mechanism that enables it to double the flight time of conventional drones. The propulsion system is modelled after helicopters. Swiss Invention The drone was developed by the startup FLYBOTIX.  The founder and inventor is Samir Bouabdallah, who worked at ETH Zurich and EPFL for over twenty years, developing drone technology.  The propellers in his "bicopter" are longer than what's used in a similarly sized quadcopters.  That gives the drone more lift and greater battery energy efficiency.  It appears to be an ideal drone to inspect hard to reach and fragi...

Faster than a Helicopter, More Nimble than a Plane Courtesy:  Bell Bell's V-280 Valor The V-280 Valor is a new, tiltrotor aircraft.  It reaches top speeds of more than 320 mph.  It flies 2 times faster and 2 times farther than a helicopter.  And, its far more nimble than an airplane.  It's cited as one of 2018's top 100 innovations.  It's being developed for the US military. Tiltrotor Its propellers can pivot from horizontal to vertical.  That allows it takeoff and land vertically. This innovative aircraft promises to be a smaller, more nimble and lighter version of the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor.  It is being developed by Bell and has tested successfully. For more news on transportation innovation, check out my Amazon Authors Page  amazon.com/author/ekane Ed Kane