Autoflight and CATL’s New Relationship

Dean Sigler Announcements, Batteries, Biomimicry, Sky Taxis, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

AutoFlight and battery developer CATL (Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., announced “an exclusive strategic investment and cooperation agreement, a relationship valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars.”  Uniting these two technological leaders, the agreement provides developmental cash to AutoFlight and a platform for CATL to expand their electric aviation market. A Trip Across the Yangtze An August 1 flight across the Yangtze River highlighted how the strengths of this new relationship can grow both companies.  Nanjing, an ancient capital of the Six Dynasties, is only one of 29 major cities on either side of the great river.  All face the same transportation difficulties.  The 5.5 kilometer straight-line distance between Nanjing UAV Base and Yuzui Wetland Park, for instance, “requires a 20 kilometer drive that takes 25 minutes. However, an eVTOL aircraft can cover this distance in just five minutes,”  cutting travel time by 80 percent,” according to AutoFlight.  Even worse, holiday travelers around popular tourist destinations can slow traffic by …

Autoflight Lifts Off and Transitions

Dean Sigler Electric Powerplants, Sky Taxis, Sustainable Aviation 1 Comment

Autoflight, the latest outlet for Tian Yu’s creativity, has demonstrated a successful transition from vertical lift to forward flight.  Yu, the founder and CEO of Yuneec, fielded a wide range of drones, motors, and eventually an ultralight electric aircraft under the Greenwings name. Yuneec Goes to Oshkosh He managed to obtain FAA approval for flights of his Yuneec e430, an electric two-seat lightplane, at Oshkosh in 2009.  At that time, Ed Warnock, CEO of the Perlan Project, called your editor to allow him to hear Yuneec powerplants humming audibly in their display area on Wittman Field. Eric Lindbergh tested the Yuneec e-Spyder, a derivation of Tom Pehigny’s design.  A pair of e-Spyders showed up at AirVenture in 2013, becoming the first electric airplanes to fly in formation at that event.  They were joined by Mark Beierle’s eGull in the ultralight area, an electric threesome that showed great promise. Yuneec faded from the American scene for a while, seeming to concentrate …