Aircraft

Having shown off simplified copter controls, Airbus Helicopters' FlightLab has completed a fully automated flight testing a new simplified tablet-based human machine interface (HMI) designed to reduce pilot workloads and increase safety.

Airbus innovation division UpNext is testing its next-gen autonomous systems for air-to-air in-flight refueling, which could be a revolutionary leap forward for a variety of military and civil aircraft, safely extending range and endurance.

In a video posted to TikTok, Gravity Industries founder Richard Browning has shown off what appears to be live-fire aerial testing of a shoulder-mounted, head-tracking weapons system for the Iron Man-style jet suit he's been flying since 2017.

Gulfstream Aerospace has flown into history as one of its G600 aircraft completed the world's first transatlantic flight burning 100% Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) from Savannah, Georgia, to Farnborough, England, in six hours and 56 minutes.

Two years ago, American air mobility company Electra announced that it was partnering with the US Air Force on the development of an ultra-short takeoff and landing (ultra-STOL) aircraft. Earlier this month, a demonstrator version of that plane made its first two flights.

DARPA has announced the four companies that will compete for the contract to design, build and test an X-Plane demonstrator capable of high-speed cruise, hover and VTOL for its Speed and Runway Independent Technologies (SPRINT) project.

Rolls-Royce has taken a major green step, announcing that not only has its giant UltraFan demo jet engine been run at full power on 100% Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), but tests have proven all its current civilian engines are compatible with 100% SAF.

Just weeks after its first manned flight in the California desert, Joby Aviation has taken its S4 eVTOL air taxi out for a piloted demo flight in the Big Apple, demonstrating just how much quieter and less disruptive it'll be than a helicopter.

Huge props to these two helicopter test pilots, who have white-knuckled it through one of the most harrowing experiences in rotorcraft flight – an unpowered autorotation emergency landing – allowing an autonomous system to take the controls.

A year after it was pronounced airworthy by the FAA, and 14 years after it was first announced, the Samson Sky Switchblade is officially off the ground. This street-legal three-wheeler converts to a 200-mph (320-km/h) airplane at the touch of a button.

London startup Lyte Aviation is thinking big when it comes to VTOL aircraft. Forget your piddly five-seaters, Lyte says its first aircraft will be a 44-seat monster with a 300-km/h (186-mph) top speed and a range over 1,000 km (620 miles).

What happens when something goes very wrong in an eVTOL aircraft? China's AeroHT has released video of its innovative low-altitude multi-parachute system turning a catastrophic propulsion system failure into a soft-ish landing from just 50 m (164 ft) up.

China's AeroHT is making rapid progress with its eVTOL flying cars, and it's now shown two fascinating new concepts – a six-wheel-drive hybrid-electric "aircraft carrier" van, and a new version of the flying supercar, with a fully concealed airframe.

Google co-founder Sergey Brin quietly founded LTA Research in 2015, and its massive rigid airship prototype is preparing for its first outdoor flights, with a view to speeding up disaster response and starting zero-infrastructure cargo flights.

The eVTOL air taxi Archer is pushing toward production has now lifted off for the first time. The handsome, five-seat Midnight aircraft is scheduled to enter service in 2025, providing clean, quiet, short-range, traffic-busting hops over urban areas.