Aircraft

An electric aircraft that takes off like a helicopter and cruises like a regular plane just completed its first piloted flight with a new full-scale prototype. Vertical Aerospace is accelerating toward commercial certification, targeted for 2028.

At this year's ILA Berlin Air Show, Airbus Helicopters unveiled its latest entry into fully autonomous flight, the U145 twin-engine helicopter. Based on the company's H145 platform, the aircraft replaces the cockpit with clamshell cargo doors, freeing up additional space for payloads.

Electra provides a glimpse of the airliner of 2050 with its hybrid aircraft concept capable of carrying over 100 passengers while using electrification, advanced aerodynamics, and integrated airframe-propulsion design to up efficiency and cut emissions.

A crewed aircraft named the Helios Horizon has flown on solid-state batteries for the first time, logging a 60% energy density leap over lithium-ion that could finally make commercial electric aviation a reality.

To cut costs and emissions, Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport is rolling out a pilot program using a semi-robotic ground tug called TaxiBot that allows pilots to taxi airliners around the airport without using their main jet engines.

The venerable Cold War SR-71 Blackbird may be looking nervously at its laurels after Hermeus's latest Quarterhorse Mk 2.1 uncrewed prototype broke the sound barrier at Spaceport America over the White Sands Missile Range airspace in New Mexico in March.

AutoFlight has flown its 20-meter (65.6-ft) V5000 Matrix in coordinated formation with two smaller eVTOLs – a systems milestone that brings electric aviation's most ambitious aircraft one step closer to commercial service.

A new frontier for autonomous flight appears to have been breached as Merlin, Inc. introduces its Merlin Pilot for Commercial Cargo AI-powered flight system that aims to eventually bring pilot-free flight to large cargo aircraft.

CycloKinetics, a US propellant company, has unveiled a new family of superfuels for aircraft, missiles, and rockets that increase fuel performance by 32%. Aimed at the defense market, the fuels could allow vehicles to fly farther while carrying heavier payloads.

A modified Robinson R44 completed the first-ever hydrogen helicopter circuit flight in Quebec, Canada, clearing a key hurdle toward FAA and Transport Canada certification for zero-emission organ delivery aircraft.

The last time we heard from the UK's AltoVolo, it only had renders of its grand vision for a sportscar equivalent of an eVTOL to show off. That was exactly a year ago – and it's now got a working prototype taking to the skies.

Imagine looking out the window of an airborne airplane and seeing the wing rippling and twisting. You'd probably have a mini heart attack. Yet, this is what German engineers have created: prototype morphing wings that change their shape mid-flight.

This helium-lift, propeller-thrust, silent, eco-friendly electric airship might be small, but it’s a precision eVTOL perfect for repairing equipment at high-altitude locations. All you need to pilot aérOnde is a simple joystick and a love of freedom.

California-based aerospace company Airhart Aeronautics recently completed test flights of its new cockpit avionics suite for small planes at the company's Long Beach facility. We sat down with Airhart President Nate Thuli to learn more.

Vertical Aerospace has scored a world-first as its full-scale tilt-rotor eVTOL completed a two-way piloted transition between vertical helicopter mode and horizontal airplane mode during a single continuous flight while under regulatory oversight.