Aircraft

The team at Volocopter has sent its 18-rotor aircraft into the skies over Stuttgart as part of its first urban demonstration flight in a European city center.

The Volocopter has flown amid other traffic at an international airport for the first time.

NASA recently tested a microphone that's 30 miles long to measure the acoustic signature of the quiet supersonic X-59 X-plane.

The Volocopter has been given another makeover, resulting in a rounder, cleaner design the company says is the most powerful Volocopter yet.

A new US Air Force kit that can turn a conventional aircraft into a robotic one has completed its maiden flight. The ROBOpilot made its first two-hour flight on August 9 at the Dugway Proving Ground in Utah after being installed in a 1968 Cessna 206 small aircraft.

Although ice formation on the wings is a major cause of aircraft crashes, that ice must still mainly be spotted by eye. A new sensor could change that, however, as it uses microwaves to instantly detect the formation of ice that may not be visible to pilots or ground crews.

After a two-year upgrade of its test facilities, the AEDC Aerodynamic and Propulsion Test Unit at Arnold Air Force Base in Tennessee has finally been able to test the latest Northrop Grumman scramjet at simulated hypersonic speeds, setting a new thrust record in the process.

Japanese electronics giant NEC has been working with a company called Cartivator to design, build and test VTOL air taxi concepts. Now the two companies have demonstrated a multi-seat manned multicopter, a step toward a flying car future Japan believes will arrive around 2030.

After ending up in the water on his first attempt, flying Frenchman Franky Zapata has now successfully crossed the English Channel on his jet-powered Flyboard Air. The 22-mile (35.4-km) crossing took Zapata some 22 minutes, holding speeds over 100 mph (160 km/h).

DLR is developing a new type of gyrocopter that ditches the pilot in favor of more cargo space. The focus of the Automated Low Altitude Air Delivery (ALAADy) system, the ALAADy Demonstrator unmanned gyrocopter is designed to autonomously deliver heavier cargoes at low altitudes.

After wowing the crowds by flying over the Bastille Day celebrations in Paris earlier this month, Franky Zapata attempted to cross the English Channel today on his Flyboard Air jet-powered hoverboard. Sadly he didn't make it and dropped in the drink about half way across.​

Seeing David Mayman flying his thunderous JB-10 jetpack in person is an absolutely astonishing experience. We were there to watch his "redemption flight" in Sydney Harbour and attend the premiere of Own the Sky, a stunning documentary made about Mayman's life by a boyhood friend.