On Monday, the Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust (GSTFT) announced a partnership with Wing, the drone delivery arm of Google parent Alphabet, and Apian, the developer of an application programming interface (API) for medical logistics founded by former NHS doctors, to move blood between two hospitals in less than two minutes. The U.K.’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has approved an airspace corridor between the hospitals and will regulate the trial.

The six-month program, expected to begin in the fall, will serve Guy’s Hospital and St Thomas’ Hospital in central London. According to GSTFT, moving samples between the sites can take more than half an hour by van or bike courier. But per a study in the British Journal of Haematology, transporting blood by drone is just as safe as doing so by ground vehicle.

“The drone pilot combines two of our key priorities—providing the best possible patient care and improving sustainability,” said professor Ian Abbs, CEO of GSTFT.

Howard Dawber, the deputy mayor of London for business and growth, also praised the service.

Wing and Apian have been delivering surgical tools and other medical supplies in Dublin since July. In addition to those Ireland services, Apian has delivered chemotherapy treatment to cancer patients for the Isle of Wight NHS Trust and is working with Zipline to expand a prior trial for the Northumbria Trust.

In London, Wing drones will transport blood samples taken from patients awaiting surgery who are at risk of complications due to bleeding disorders. The aircraft are expected to slash delivery times, allowing NHS technicians to more quickly analyze the sample and determine if the procedure is safe.

The fully electric aircraft—which have completed more than 400,000 deliveries worldwide to date—also figure to reduce emissions while alleviating some ground traffic.

“Drones can increase the responsiveness and resilience of healthcare logistics, allowing clinicians to be more productive and patients to get the care they need sooner,” said Dr. Hammad Jeilani, co-founder of Apian.

Wing drones will transfer samples on demand, flying between the two hospital rooftops at over 60 mph and 200 feet in the air—high enough, Wing says, that their buzzing will blend into the city’s soundscape. The aircraft can tolerate moderate rain and wind. Per Apian, they will carry about 2.2 pounds, so it appears the service will not use Wing’s newer model, which can carry up to 5 pounds.

The drones are largely automated and will follow predetermined routes overseen by a remote pilot, similar to Wing’s U.S. service. Flights will take place during daytime hours from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. local time, Monday through Friday, with no more than 10 trips per day.

The drones are equipped with low-resolution cameras, but according to Wing, no live feed is available, even for its own pilots.

According to Apian, the trial could expand to fly a wider range of “pathology items, medicines and supplies.” In addition to Guy’s and St Thomas’, GSTFT operates three other main hospitals, which could be candidates for an expansion.

“This is one of the many reasons that we are working with companies through our sandbox trials programme, to enable the test and development of pioneering new aviation technology in the U.K.,” said Sophie O’Sullivan, director of the CAA’s Future of Flight program.

Drone delivery is being bolstered by U.K. leaders at the highest levels. The country’s Department for Transport, for example, in March released its Future of Flight Action Plan, a blueprint to make drone deliveries routine by 2027.

Part of that plan is the CAA’s Future Flight Challenge, a nearly $400 million initiative that funds a variety of drone delivery projects. The CAA has already authorized several trials under the program to study drones for inspections, emergency services, and policing. In August, the regulator selected six participants, including Amazon’s Prime Air, for an upcoming round of trials.

The U.K. government has also poured over $9 million into Project CAELUS, which uses drones to deliver medical supplies in Scotland, while the Royal Mail is exploring parcel delivery by drone.

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At the company’s flight test center at Cotswold Airport (EGBP) in England, Vertical pilots took the prototype through 70 individual test points, culminating in multiple hover flights of the aircraft while it was tethered to the ground.

The next step will be to remove the tether for piloted thrustborne flights, using lift generated by the aircraft’s propellers to perform vertical takeoffs and landings and low-speed maneuvers. The company is working with the U.K.’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to expand its permit to fly, which would allow it to begin that phase.

“It took us just one week to go from our first ground test to our chief test pilot flying the VX4, and we have been making outstanding progress since then,” said Stuart Simpson, CEO of Vertical.

According to Vertical, that pace of progress is three times faster than what its previous prototype accomplished.

That model crashed during an uncrewed test at Cotswold in August 2023 after a failed pylon affected the way the aircraft’s flight control system communicated with its motors, causing it to tumble about 30 feet onto the runway. The impact caused enough damage to retire the model from flight testing and force a delay to piloted untethered flight testing, which the company had hoped to complete last year.

Vertical rebounded by kicking off testing of its current VX4 prototype in July, just under one year after the crash. According to the firm, the new design is significantly more powerful.

A 20 percent increase in the aircraft’s power-to-weight ratio, by the company’s estimate, enables speeds up to 150 mph—the intended cruise speed for its flagship aircraft. The design includes Vertical’s next generation propellers and proprietary battery systems, as well as components supplied by partners such as Honeywell, Leonardo, GKN Aerospace, and Molicel. The company says it is developing an identical prototype that will further accelerate its test campaign.

Across 20 piloted test sorties, the prototype VX4 simulated flight maneuvers and scenarios—including those outside of expected operating conditions—to validate safety.

Engineers gauged how the aircraft responded to simulated failures to prove that it could fly safely even in unanticipated conditions. Vertical deliberately failed one of the prototype’s electric propulsion units (EPUs) during a piloted tether flight, for example, to confirm that its other engines automatically output maximum power to compensate. Pilots also failed EPUs during high-speed taxi to validate the aircraft’s ground handling capabilities.

Other tests focused on the model’s powertrain and propellers, preflight operations, and ability to handle turbulence.

“These tests have enabled Vertical engineers to collect and measure 35,000 flight and system parameters and verify that all systems are operating correctly and safely in different conditions ahead of further expanding the flight test envelope to piloted thrustborne flight,” the company said.

Following thrustborne flight, phase three of the test campaign will introduce conventional takeoffs, landings, and flight, with lift generated by the wing. The final phase is expected to tie everything together, with the VX4 transitioning seamlessly between thrustborne and wingborne flight.

That full transition flight has been achieved by only a handful of eVTOL manufacturers and is considered a key testing milestone.

After the VX4 prototype completes a transition flight at Cotswold, Vertical will turn to for-credit testing with the U.K. CAA, from which it is seeking a type certificate by 2026.

The firm has several marquee customers, including American Airlines, Japan Airlines, and Virgin Atlantic, that have already placed orders for its flagship model. It estimates the value of its order backlog at around $6 billion, based on about 1,500 preorders.

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The CAA on Thursday announced it selected six projects that will test the self-flying aircraft’s use for delivery to consumers, infrastructure inspection, emergency services, and more. Prime Air, the drone delivery arm of Amazon flying in Texas, was one of the selections.

The trials will feature flights beyond the visual line of sight (BVLOS) of the drone operator, relying instead on detect and avoid and other technologies to navigate and avoid obstacles. Further permission will be needed before flights can begin, the CAA said.

The goal of the campaign is to collect safety data to better understand how the drones keep themselves detectable to operators and out of the path of other aircraft.

In March, the CAA published a blueprint laying out how drones could fly routinely in the next five years. The agency also facilitated six drone trials beginning in October of last year and oversaw a drone delivery project off the coast of Scotland conducted by the Royal Mail.

“These innovative trials mark a significant step forward in integrating drones safely into U.K. airspace,” said Sophie O’Sullivan, director of Future of Flight at the CAA. “By supporting projects ranging from consumer deliveries to critical infrastructure inspections, we are gathering essential data to shape future policies and regulations.”

Companies and organizations were invited to bid on their participation in what the CAA is calling innovation sandboxes. These controlled spaces—part of a collaboration with U.K. Research and Innovation—allow participants to test and mature their technology while helping the agency develop drone regulations.

Amazon Prime Air, which announced its ambition to expand to the U.K. last year, is one of the six projects in this round of trials. Another company, Airspection, will test drone inspections of offshore wind farms.

The rest of the participants are organizations or U.K. government agencies.

The National Police Air Service, for example, is looking to add drones to its fleet and will spend six months flying the aircraft BVLOS. NATS Services, meanwhile, will work with several partners to conduct BVLOS inspections over the North Sea.

Another participant, Project SATE (Sustainable Aviation Test Environment), aims to develop a drone hub-and-spoke route network in the Orkney Islands off the coast of Scotland. The final project, called LifeLine, will deliver critical medical supplies such as defibrillators and EpiPens and provide live camera feeds to first responders.

“These have the potential to transform how we deliver goods and provide services, particularly in less well-connected regions,” said Simon Masters, deputy director of U.K. Innovation and Research’s Future Flight Challenge. “These new sandbox projects are a great step towards realizing these ambitions.”

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The manufacturer has begun ground testing a new, more advanced full-scale prototype of its flagship VX4 air taxi after an initial prototype was damaged during an uncrewed flight test last year.

A failed pylon affected the way the aircraft’s flight control system communicated with its motors, causing it to tumble from about 30 feet in the air onto the runway at Cotswold Airport (EGBP) in the U.K.

Vertical’s latest prototype air taxi is more powerful, capable of reaching 150 mph—the intended cruise speed for its flagship model—courtesy of an improved power-to-weight ratio. It features new propellers, which were developed prior to last year’s crash, and proprietary battery technology manufactured at a dedicated facility in Bristol.

Sixty percent of the aircraft’s technology and components come from suppliers including Honeywell, Leonardo, GKN Aerospace, Hanwha, and Molicel, compared to 10 percent on the first prototype. The company is also developing an identical prototype.

The new aircraft and its systems have been tested and commissioned, and Vertical has already completed initial ground testing, including propeller balancing and spinning tests that measure the weight distribution of each blade. The next step will be powered propulsion system testing of the air taxi’s powertrain and battery packs, during which the engines will be run while the vehicle is anchored. 

After that, Vertical will need to secure a permit to fly from the U.K.’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), which will allow it to move to the “wheels up” phase: crewed testing of tethered aircraft and low-speed untethered flights. It will also need to perform thrustborne, wingborne, and transition flights, demonstrating that the aircraft can maneuver and gain lift as expected.

The manufacturer’s type certification safety target is the same as that for commercial airliners. Its flagship model will enable a pilot to fly as many as four passengers up to 100 sm (87 nm) while producing zero operating emissions and just 50 dBA of noise during cruise, which the company says allows it to fit seamlessly within an urban soundscape. The firm claims it will be capable of flying from Miami to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in only 11 minutes.

Despite suffering a crash, Vertical continues to receive support from the U.K. government, which in February awarded it $10 million to develop its next-generation propellers. The allocation brings the manufacturer’s total U.K. government grant funding received to $47 million

Vertical founder Stephen Fitzpatrick also committed $50 million to the company, which he predicted would keep it liquid through mid-2025. The money will be used to support the aircraft testing and certification process, which the manufacturer hopes to complete by the end of 2026.

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The DfT on Monday released the Future of Flight action plan: a joint blueprint created by industry and government stakeholders that aims to get eVTOL air taxis, crime-fighting drones, and emergency service UAS flying routinely by 2028.

The document seeks to ensure the proper regulations and infrastructure are in place to open the country’s skies to quiet, sustainable aircraft, providing guidance for the next five years.

“Aviation stands on the cusp of its next, potentially biggest, revolution since the invention of the jet engine,” said Sophie O’Sullivan, head of future safety and innovation for the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). “Drones, eVTOL, and other different vehicles have the potential to change transportation options forever.”

Drones are already being deployed by U.K. groups such as the West Midlands Police and Medical Logistics U.K. In just a few short years, they’ve demonstrated the ability to identify suspicious subjects and reduce travel time between hospitals by up to 70 percent. Meanwhile, air taxi models under development are expected to begin flying passengers in the coming years.

A study conducted by the DfT estimates that drone technology alone could boost the U.K. economy by 45 billion pounds—or about $57 billion—by the end of the decade.

“Drones help professional teams capture data from the sky in a safer, cheaper, smarter, and greener way, and, in the future, they will help transport cargo and people,” said Anne-Lise Scaillierez, CEO of the Association of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems UK (ARPAS-UK), a drone trade association.

The DfT plan predicts the first piloted flying taxi will take to the skies in 2026, with regular service following by 2028 and the first autonomous eVTOL demos by 2030. Regular drone deliveries are anticipated by 2027.

Anthony Browne—the U.K.’s aviation and technology minister, who on Monday is due to visit Bristol-based eVTOL air taxi manufacturer Vertical Aerospace—said the plan will make the country a leader of an approaching “dramatic shift in transportation.”

“Cutting-edge battery technology will revolutionize transport as we know it—this plan will make sure we have the infrastructure and regulation in place to make it a reality,” said Browne.

The CAA, which has already begun the authorization process for Vertical’s VX4 air taxi, will provide regulatory support for the Future of Flight plan and ensure new aircraft comply with the safety standards for traditional models. The agency figures to be a crucial stakeholder in the industry’s near-term development.

“The UK has a long heritage in aerospace, and the publication of this plan sets out how we will lead the next revolution of flight,” said  Stephen Fitzpatrick, founder and CEO of Vertical. “With government and business working together, we can unleash the huge economic, environmental, and social benefits of zero emissions flight globally.”

Among other things, the action plan calls for rules that would permit beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) drone flights, allowing the sector to grow without interfering with other aircraft. It also encourages engagement with communities and local authorities and the creation of standards to improve drone security. Drone operators would have access to new digital platforms, which could minimize the red tape associated with getting them in the air quickly.

The plan further sets out how smaller aerodromes could serve as vertiports for eVTOL aircraft, including the development vertiport certification standards. Crucially, it calls for stakeholders to study how existing infrastructure could be used to establish vertiports quickly but safely.

In the coming months, the DfT and its partners will conduct a series of trials to explore BVLOS drone flights and demonstrate electric aircraft, with the aim of minimizing accidents. The trials may include finding and repairing faults on railways, assisting emergency services, or using air taxis to create new connections across the U.K.

The action plan was released before the fifth meeting of the Future of Flight Industry Group: a joint force created in February 2023 to help government and industry leaders address key challenges. Members include air taxi manufacturers Vertical and Joby Aviation, operator Bristow Group, vertiport developer Skyports, and the U.K. National Air Traffic Service (NATS).

“The U.K. is home to one of the world’s most important aerospace industries and is in an ideal position to be a pioneer in the next era of aviation,” said Duncan Walker, CEO of Skyports and chairman of the Future of Flight Industry Group. “The government and industry have a joint commitment to support the development, industrialization and introduction of new aviation technologies. Continued collaboration will ensure that we capitalize on the significant domestic and international market opportunities presented.”

Parallels can be drawn between the Future of Flight plan and the FAA’s Innovate28: a blueprint also targeting widespread drone and air taxi operations by 2028.

Like the U.K. plan, Innovate28 proposes a “crawl-walk-run” approach to air taxi operations in the U.S., focusing on a near-term rollout in stages over the next five years. It also proposes heavy reliance on existing infrastructure to decrease complexity.

As in the U.K., U.S. air taxi services are likely to be niche early on, with flights limited mostly to narrow corridors. Drones, which are already used widely, are expected to expand with the implementation of rules for BVLOS flights, among other provisions.

Ultimately, Innovate28’s goal is for eVTOL air taxis to fly at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, by which time operations are expected to have scaled in major cities.

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The manufacturer last week said it received a $10 million grant from the U.K. government through the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) program, its fourth grant award through that initiative. The award brings Vertical’s total U.K. government grant funding to $47 million and follows founder and CEO Stephen Fitzpatrick’s personal commitment to provide another $50 million.

The company will use the money to develop next-generation propellers for the VX4, its flagship, four-passenger eVTOL air taxi. The propellers will be featured on Aircraft Two, a full-scale prototype in production that will build on its Aircraft One model.

Aircraft One is the company’s inaugural prototype that suffered a crash during uncrewed testing at Cotswold Airport (EGBP) in August. The accident damaged the model’s right wing and landing gear, and rendered it unusable for further flight testing.

“This exciting sustainable propeller project is a fantastic example of our commitment to our world-leading aviation sector, supporting high-skilled, high-paid jobs across the U.K. while developing technologies of the future,” said Nusrat Ghani, U.K. minister of state for industry and economic security. “When government and industry collaborate like this, we help our aerospace sector soar to new heights, leading the charge towards net-zero air travel by 2050.”

Vertical will head a consortium of U.K. technology organizations and research institutions, including the University of Glasgow, University of Bristol, Cranfield University, and Helitune, a helicopter monitoring specialist.

Of the more than $25 million being poured into the propeller project, Vertical said it received more than $10 million, or about half of the company’s eligible development costs. Another $4.5 million will be awarded to other consortium members.

According to Vertical, the new propellers will be lower in weight, inertia, and noise than its existing propellers and will be “delivered to a higher safety standard than any model currently on the market.”

“The project will see advancements in rotor technologies vital to the success of eVTOL aircraft developed here in the U.K., growing knowledge, skills and capability in the process,” said Mark Scully, head of propulsion and advanced systems technology for ATI. “Through this investment the ATI Programme is enabling the development of ultra-efficient and cross-cutting technologies.”

The award follows Fitzpatrick’s commitment to support Vertical with $50 million out of his own pocket. The company last week confirmed it has entered into an investment agreement with its founder and CEO, putting the promise to paper.

By its own estimate, Vertical risked running out of cash by September amid the fallout from its August crash and delays to its certification timeline, which over the years has been pushed from 2024 to 2026. The company reportedly missed a target to raise funding by December. Its previous raise of $205 million closed more than two years ago.

However, Vertical said Fitzpatrick’s contribution will extend its cash runway into mid-2025, with more funding potentially lined up pending the completed flight test campaign of Aircraft Two. Last month, it said the full-scale prototype was nearing completion at partner GKN Aerospace’s Global Technology Center in the U.K.

Aircraft Two is expected to be Vertical’s certification aircraft that it will use in for-credit type certification testing with the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). In addition to the next-generation propellers, the updated design adds a revamped powertrain, refined flight control system, and battery packs designed to meet thermal runaway safety requirements. It will feature components made by certification partners Honeywell, GKN, Hanwha, Solvay, and Leonardo.

Vertical intends for Aircraft Two to complete a flight campaign and several public demonstrations this year. These are expected to include an appearance at the Farnborough International Airshow at Farnborough Airport (EGLF) in July, as well as flights to and from London Heathrow Airport (EGLL).

In March, Vertical received CAA design organization approval (DOA), a required step in the regulator’s type certification process. Only a handful of air taxi firms, including Germany’s Volocopter and Lilium, have obtained DOA from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).

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Boston-based Merlin Labs—the maker of a platform-agnostic, takeoff-to-touchdown autonomy system for fixed-wing aircraft—on Wednesday announced it obtained Part 135 certification from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) of New Zealand for future air freight operations in the country. The regulator’s Part 135 covers air operations for helicopters and small airplanes.

Certification of the Merlin’s flagship Merlin Pilot system follows U.S. military airworthiness approvals for fellow automated flight systems providers Xwing and Reliable Robotics, handed out by the U.S. Air Force.

“Achieving an organizational Part 135 certification gives us the opportunity to work with a forward-thinking regulator as well as leverage New Zealand as a sandbox for our current and future products,” said Matt George, founder and CEO of Merlin. “This milestone enables us to continue progressing our technical maturity, ultimately validating the safety and operational effectiveness of the Merlin Pilot for [CAA] Part 23 certification and beyond.”

Merlin’s Part 135 certificate will allow it to perform critical data collection flights on certain regional freight routes following CAA product certification of Merlin Pilot. The company achieved a state of involvement (SOI) 1 milestone for the system in May, putting it on “a viable path to certification and commercial operation,” it said.

According to Merlin, data collected on those freight routes will be essential for “future development decisions that will be implemented globally.” The findings will also support Merlin Pilot certification with both the CAA and FAA, it said.

The company’s Part 135 certification will further allow it to leverage its dedicated test facility in Kerikeri, New Zealand, opened in May, for current and future products once they’re certified.

Merlin said it has made notable progress on its organizational and product certification since its Project Specific Certification Plan (PSCP) was approved by the CAA—in partnership with the FAA—in 2021. At the time, it claimed to be the first company to reach an agreement with a regulator on an approach to certification for autonomous aircraft tech.

Since then, Merlin was contracted by the FAA to perform what it said was the first air cargo network trials flown by a non-human pilot, which it completed successfully in Alaska in July.

The company also has a relationship with the U.S. Air Force. Last week, the two agreed to conduct in-flight demonstrations of Merlin Pilot aboard a KC-135 Stratotanker, which is used by the military for aerial refueling. Those trials will begin next year. The exercise is a follow-up to a 2022 Air Force contract to test the system on a single-pilot Lockheed Martin C-130J Hercules, which is normally commanded by two pilots.

Through innovation arm AFWERX, the Air Force is also collaborating with autonomous flight systems providers Xwing and Reliable Robotics. Both firms were approved to fly in unrestricted airspace in the past 30 days as the military and FAA begin to ramp up their pursuit of autonomy.

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Answer: After the May 1996 crash of ValuJet Flight 592 in the Florida Everglades, the FAA was criticized for the possible part it played in the disaster, allowing for cost-cutting to impact safety. Some legal scholars observed that the functions of protecting passenger safety while promoting industry (including all other civil aviation) interests weren’t compatible. So, then-Secretary of Transportation Frederico Pena called for Congress to reexamine the FAA’s “dual mandate.” Thus, in October 1996, Congress amended the Federal Aviation Act, removing the language “promoting” aviation and adding more provisions emphasizing safety.

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That’s the outlook for Bristol, U.K.-based electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft manufacturer Vertical Aerospace, which at the beginning of May told shareholders that it’s pushing back certification of its VX4 air taxi with Britain’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) from 2025 to 2026. It’s the second time the firm has delayed certification since April 2022, when it changed its target from 2024 to 2025.

In a shareholder letter accompanying Vertical’s financial statement for the first quarter of 2023, CEO Stephen Fitzpatrick explained that the company’s revised guidance stems from a lack of agreement with authorities on compliance methods for new technology—a challenge he expects his competitors to face as well.

“For instance,” Fitzpatrick said, “as we begin to consider our means of compliance with the CAA, we will work through factors out of our control, such as the testing it requires for this technology. We believe the industry as a whole will experience some timeline corrections, and we are already seeing signs of peers acknowledging this.”

Fitzpatrick may be referring to rival Joby Aviation, which recently delayed its commercial launch because of regulatory hurdles, or Lilium, which has scrapped its plans to launch a regional air taxi service in 2024 and last year pushed back its certification target to 2025. Other companies, meanwhile, have held firm, like Archer Aviation has with its late 2024 deadline.

So, how does Vertical stack up to these manufacturers? 

According to its first-quarter 2023 financial statement, the firm has about $130 million in cash and cash equivalents on hand. That’s compared to around $50 million for Joby, which also has short-term investments of $928 million, based on the most recent company data. Lilium has about $180 million while Archer sits close to $300 million—both have short-term investments of around $150 million.

Vertical also has a short-term investment of about $141 million from the U.K.’s Aerospace Technology Institute to support its development of hydrogen and battery propulsion systems with Rolls-Royce. But crunching the numbers, Vertical is the most cash-strapped of the eVTOL “Big Four.”

However, Vertical has a few things working in its favor. Among eVTOL makers, it trails only Eve Air Mobility in total orders with 975 as of December 2022, buoyed by an order of 250 aircraft from American Airlines.

The company also says it’s well positioned for a fundraise later this year, which should bolster its cash flow. And in March, it became the first eVTOL manufacturer to earn a design organization approval—a key step required for type certification—from the CAA. So, despite Fitzpatrick’s recent admission that Vertical “didn’t know about certification” when he founded the firm in 2017, it appears to be top of mind now.

Still, Vertical and the rest of the industry face a steep path ahead.

The CAA, having adopted European Aviation Safety Agency standards for VTOL certification, has classified air taxis as a “special condition” under existing rules rather than developing a new certification specification. That means it won’t need to develop an entirely new standard for VTOL aircraft, which could speed up the certification process.

All of this bodes well for Vertical’s prospects in Britain. But it will need to tackle U.S. certification as well.

Mirroring its approach to drones, the FAA has taken a conservative approach to eVTOL certification centered around safe integration. The agency did release an updated blueprint of its vision for air taxis in the national airspace and is planning to unveil an implementation plan this month, but certification standards remain in flux.

In lieu of standards that would apply to all eVTOL designs and operations, the FAA has issued proposed airworthiness criteria for Joby and Archer. Rivals such as Vertical and Lilium still await the requirements they must meet in order to fly in the U.S., but it’s worth noting that the FAA and CAA are working together to develop a new regulatory framework.

Vertical and others are also targeting certification in Japan. So far, the British company has sizable orders from Japan Airlines and trading and investment firm Marubeni, with plans to launch commercially in Japan in the mid-2020s. And recently, it successfully applied to place the VX4 into the Japanese Civil Aviation Bureau’s type certification process.

Joby, Boeing-backed Wisk Aero, and other U.S. eVTOL manufacturers are also eyeing services in the country.

Despite all of this activity, though, the first eVTOL certification appears to be at least a few more years away. It remains to be seen whether the industry is undergoing “timeline corrections,” as Fitzpatrick said. But given the lack of clear regulations and the delays from Vertical, Joby, and Lilium, it’s not unreasonable to expect others to push back certification as well.

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The approval includes the 2-axis configuration as well as the 3-axis. The EASA certification follows existing approvals for the system from the UK CAA and Brazil’s ANAC, as well as an FAA supplemental type certificate (STC).

Moog-owned (NYSE: MOG.A) Genesys made the announcement in a news release Tuesday, confirming that customers can now place orders through Bell Textron, or with approved Genesys dealers for retrofitting. 

“The autopilot kit is useful for pilots because it improves safety and lightens the pilot’s workload,” said a statement from Genesys managing director for Europe, Duncan Van De Velde. “Any Bell 505 in the field in Europe can now be retrofitted with the Genesys system and we look forward to meeting the needs of our customers.”

• READ MORE: Genesys Adds 4th Axis Hover and Hold to Autopilot Series 

The versatile Bell 505 includes capacity for up to four passengers, a top cruise speed of 125 knots, a range of 306 nm, according to its manufacturer. It can be configured for HEMS missions, for corporate transport, or as a training aircraft. The Textron-owned (NYSE: TXT) company announced its 400th 505 delivery last month. 

Genesys Aerosystems has received full EASA certification approval for the HeliSAS Autopilot and Stability Augmentation System on the Bell 505 platform. The EASA approval covers both the 2-axis and 3-axis configurations.https://t.co/4QOPdtPrOP pic.twitter.com/ph25VWjiYs

— Genesys Aerosystems (@GenesysAero) September 12, 2022

System Features

The Genesys Aerosystems HeliSAS system includes:

• Automatic resumption of near-level flight attitude at all speeds
• Stability commitment during all phases of flight from start to shutdown
• Autopilot pitch control
• Altitude hold
• IAS hold
• VS hold
• GS autopilot roll control
• HDG hold
• NAV, LOC, VOR
• Optional yaw control
• Overspeed and underspeed protection

HeliSAS’s stability increase system is designed to be always active, according to the manufacturer. It will “return the helicopter to a neutral attitude simply by loosening the applied forces or simply letting go of the cyclic in the event that the pilot becomes incapacitated, spatially disoriented or loses visual references.”

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