Manned multirotors

Field tests of the VoloCity for air rescue operations are due to begin in 2023

Aircraft

Volocopter's air taxi to take part in air rescue field testing

A feasibility study modeled on the VoloCity multirotor electric air taxi has concluded that electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft would benefit emergency air rescue services. Now the project is looking to begin operational testing in 2023.

Kitty Hawk's Flyer program is being shut down after some 25,000 successful flights

Aircraft

Kitty Hawk shuts down its Flyer eVTOL program

Larry Page and Sebastian Thrun's personal flying carpet project has been grounded, as the Kitty Hawk company turns its attention to a larger, faster, longer range aircraft with better commercial potential in the emerging eVTOL air taxi market.

Aircraft

Video: Russian hoverbike loses control at 100 ft and crashes in Dubai

A pilot somehow managed to escape injury as his multirotor hoverbike suffered a barometer failure at a 100-foot altitude over concrete in a Dubai test. Bucking like a mechanical bull, the machine crashed to Earth and flipped over its rider.

Tailsitter design makes it easy for the Atlas to transition to efficient winged flight

Aircraft

The Watfly Atlas eVTOL: What, that flies?

Something about this just looks so wrong. The Atlas is a manned multicopter design, in which all four of its ducted rotors are inline along a single wing. Targeted for sale in 2021 at around US$150k, this tailsitter might have some advantages.

You're looking at Japan's first manned multirotor flight, by the SkyDrive team

Aircraft

SkyDrive claims Japan's first manned multirotor flight

Japan's SkyDrive has completed four months of manned eVTOL flights and, with a new CTO on board, says it's on track for an eVTOL product launch in 2023.

Like a folded-up quadcopter with a motorbike seat on top, the teTra 3 is a remarkable-looking flight device

Aircraft

GoFly is a NoFly, but Japan's Tetra 3 wins $100k Disruptor award

The final fly-off in Boeing's US$2 million-dollar GoFly personal flight contest was postponed yesterday due to high winds, but one Japanese team still went home with a substantial check to put towards further research and development.

This full-sized aerobatic multicopter can carry a passenger and pull extreme aerobatic tricks – just not at the same time – not yet, anyway

Aircraft

World's first manned aerobatic drone shown pulling loops and rolls

This racy-looking 12-rotor coaxial multicopter has been filmed in Croatia pulling extreme rolls and loops, and carrying a human on board. Not at the same time, mind you, but still, to see a drone of this size pulling stunts like this is astonishing.

The Seraph prototype is Britain's leading air taxi contender

Aircraft

Vertical Aerospace debuts a chubby eVTOL capable of carrying 3 people

With the ability to carry up to 250 kg of payload at speeds up to 80 km/h, the 12-rotor Seraph is Britain's leading electric VTOL air taxi candidate. Vertical Aerospace has released video of this chunky bird in flight.

NEC's flying car prototype in caged testing

Aircraft

NEC demonstrates wobbly multicopter flying car prototype

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.

Airspeeder plans to kick off manned multicopter racing in 2020, including head-to-head racing

Aircraft

Airspeeder series to debut 120-mph, head-to-head, manned multicopter racing in 2020

A grid full of 10 giant coaxial octocopters, each with a pilot on board, racing each other head-to-head through the air at speeds up to 200 km/h (120 mph)? That's exactly what the Airspeeder racing series is set to introduce in 2020 with the aim of being a kind of Formula One for flying cars.

Alaka'i Technologies' Skai prototype is already in the process of FAA certification

Aircraft

Skai hydrogen-powered eVTOL air taxi boasts enormous 400-mile range

A new electric VTOL air taxi company came out of stealth mode today, using a hydrogen fuel cell powertrain that neatly sidesteps the energy density issue that's holding back battery-powered aircraft. Alaka'i Technologies' Skai machine has a range of up to 4 hr/400 mi and a five-passenger capacity.

Trek Aerospace's Flykart2 is just what it sounds like: a flying go-kart. And it's one of the five finalists to progress to the final stage of Boeing's GoFly competition

Aircraft

Boeing announces its five GoFly personal flight device finalists

Boeing's race to achieve safe, quiet, compact VTOL personal flight devices has narrowed its list down to five competitors, each of which get US$50,000 to help develop their prototypes. Meet the Phase II GoFly winners going on to compete for a US$1.6 million final round prize pool.