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EL9 Hybrid Electric Aircraft By Electra
Electra continues to move ahead with the development of their hybrid-electric aircraft called the EL9. The company has its eyes set for certification in 2029. In a world that is trying to produce so many eVTOL aircraft it is refreshing to see a hybrid version and this one is described more as a Blown-Lift aircraft so rather than relying specifically on energy-intensive electric duct fans to vertically lift and then transition into horizontal flight, this aircraft would take off more like a conventional craft but with much shorter distance utilized. The company expects the aircraft to be able to take off and land in as little as 150-feet...
FAA; EASA Certifies Gulfstream G800
Joint certification between the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has been granted to the Gulfstream G800 -the latest long-range model from the U.S airframer-. The G800 has exceeded performance objectives and now has an official range of 8,200 nautical miles at around Mach 0.85. This is a 200 nautical mile increase over the airframer's original range estimate...
Pilatus PC-12 PRO Unveiled
The latest iteration of Pilatus's flagship turboprob model - the PC-12- has been unveiled. It is called the PC-12 PRO and is billed as the most advanced single in the industry. At the heart of a number of the upgrades made to the PC-12 for this latest variant surrounds what Pilatus calls ACE (Advanced Cockpit Environment). At the heart of ACE is the Garmin G3000 PRIME Integrated Flight Deck. Fully customized by Pilatus, features such as Pilatus’ proprietary Cursor Control Device, track-based synthetic vision, and exclusive visual customization provide Pilatus pilots with superior solutions for ease of operation in all flight conditions...
E1000 AX Unveiled By Epic Aircraft
The flagship E1000/GX model of Epic Aircraft just became better with the unveiling of the AX version of the aircraft. The E1000 AX now boasts Garmin Autoland and Autothrottle. Additionally, the aircraft comes with more than 25 new features and customers can choose from 8 new colour schemes. An example of the E1000 AX was on display at the recently held 2025 edition of the Sun 'n Fun in Lakeland, Florida...
Collapsed Volocopter Absorbed By Diamond Aircraft
Germany lost two of its eVTOL companies recently after they essentially went out of business - Lilium and Volocopter-. However, recent news suggests that Diamond Aircraft has absorbed Volocopter. More specifically Diamond Aircraft's Chinese owners Wanfeng Aircraft Division of Wanfeng Auto Holding Group have absorbed Volocopter. This will now revive Volocopter's efforts to bring the VoloCity model to market in 2025...
Debut For Beechcraft Denali At 2025 Sun 'n Fun
Type certification work on the new Beechcraft Denali is progressing and although the program has been pushed back to getting the aircraft certified by 2026, the program is maturing. This year's Sun 'n Fun n Lakeland, Florida will be the debut for the Beachcraft Denali at that show...
Joby Aviation; Virgin Atlantic Seal Partnership
As Joby Aviation continues to push to bring to market its electric Air Taxi, the company yesterday announced a new partnership with Virgin Atlantic. Virgin's involvement is to help launch Air Taxi services in the UK...
HondaJet Echelon Takes Shape In Greensboro
The first specimen of the HondaJet Echelon (HA-480) that will be used in flight testing is now starting to take shape. For those who may not know, the HondaJet Echelon is the latest aircraft from HondaJet and moves on from their previous and sole iteration the HondaJet (HA-420). Over the years the HondaJet has been upgraded resulting in different names being attributed like the HondaJet ELITE, ELITE II ELITE S...
Major Ground Engine Tests Concluded On X-59
Ground engine tests have been completed by the X-59 demonstrator as recently announced by Lockheed Martin. They are running this project in cooperation with NASA Aeronautics and now that ground engine tests have been successfully completed it paves the way for the next steps in the program. In general the next major facets of testing will be the range of taxi tests which will encompass slow taxi ramping up to high-speed taxi runs as the precursor towards the actual first flight...
Embraer Commences Major Photo Voltaic Project
Embraer has broken ground on a large solar facility at its Melbourne, Florida campus. Embraer has been slowly moving many aspects of its operations to a more sustainable practice by utilizing energy-efficient and renewables for a portion of its power consumption. Additionally, the company has been increasing its adoption of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF)...
End Of Production For G650/ER
Gulfstream just announced that it is ending G650 production as the aircraft will be superseded by the forthcoming G800. The final G650, an ER variant rolled off the production line at the Savannah Hilton Head facility earlier this month. That aircraft is expected to be delivered to its customer later this year. It will now head to Appleton, Wisconsin facility for completion. The G650 was perhaps the first purpose-built business jet for true Ultra Long Range missions in this new era of big jets...
Sirius Now Stellar Jet; Opens HQ In The U.S
Swiss startup that was previously known as Sirius has now been rebranded. The same company is now known as Stellar Aviation and the aircraft they are working on is more of a hydrogen VTOL now called the Stellar Jet. They are still very early in their operations and developing the new craft. They have also registered and now have its headquarters located in Delaware in the United States. Although they are expected to still keep the Swiss location as a hub for global operations...
XB-1 Demonstrator Breaks Sound Barrier
Today, January 28th is the day that BOOM Supersonic with one of their XB-1 demonstrator aircraft officially broke the sound barrier. It is the first civil supersonic jet made in America. The XB-1 demonstrator that took part in the supersonic test flight was N990XB and was done with special permission from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)...
Ascendance Atea eVTOL To Take Flight In 2025
Relative newcomer to the eVTOL space Ascendance Flight Technologies has been quietly working behind the scenes on their new craft. It is still early days but the company believes that it will fly its first full-scale prototype sometime this year. Lots of ground tests have been conducted so far with an 'iron bird' and technology demonstrators. The next task is to be able to scale up the industrialization to match the next swathes of the program needed to take it toward certification...
XB-1 Demonstrator Just Shy Of Supersonic On Latest Test
BOOM's XB-1 demonstrator in its most recent test flight nearly went pass the speed of sound. It flew from Mojave Air & Space Port in Mojave, CA on January 10th, 2025 flying to an altitude of 29,481-feet and reaching MACH 0.95. This 44 minute test flight was number 11 for the XB-1 demonstrator so far and the first flight for 2025...
HEAT Facility Online For Hermeus
Hermeus currently is working on testing demonstrators for supersonic and eventually hypersonic flight. They are at the stage of using their MK-1 Quarterhorse Demonstrator which is coming to the top end of its testing before they transition to MK-2 Quarterhorse to test the vehicle pass MACH 2. Powering the craft is the Pratt & Whitney F100 engine. Hermeus says that there is a shortage of hypersonic test facilities and those that are available are booked up solid so they started to build their own...
Push To Develop eVTOL Infrastructure
With a myriad of eVTOL programmes in the works and at varying stages of development and certification the Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) sector has been pushing ahead. However, it has not been easy with financial issues plaguing some of the top entities in this segment. For example, in recent times JetForums has informed you about German eVTOL manufacturers Lilium and Volocopter all filing for insolvency protection in the last few months...
Piaggio Aerospace Finally Finds New Owner
Italian manufacturer Piaggio Aerospace has finally secured a buyer for the company after a few years of searching for an entity to take over the business. The Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy in Italy has approved the takeover by Turkish giant Baykar...
Flight Test Campaign Concludes For EcoPulse
EcoPulse, a distributed hybrid-electric propulsion demonstrator developed together between Airbus, Safran and Daher has completed its flight test campaign. Airbus announced the news in December 2024 which resulted in the delivery of crucial insights to meet the decarbonization goals for air transport by 2050...
Current State Of The Supersonic Race
At JF we continually follow news pertaining to the civil supersonic race. Over the last few years there have been a number of contenders that have been at varying stages of development of their respective supersonic craft. Not all have made it to current day in 2025. For example there was Aerion who were actively working on the AS2 supersonic aircraft but they exited the race in 2021 having fielded plans and actually broke ground for building a large superfactory in Melbourne, Florida. Currently, there are three notable names in the race, BOOM Supersonic with their XB-1 demonstrator currently in flight testing...
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