NEW YORK - Joby Aviation and Volocopter gave the public a vivid glimpse of what the future of aviation might look like this weekend, with both companies performing brief demonstration flights of their electric aircraft in New York City. The demonstration flights were conducted during a press conference on Sunday, during which New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced that the city would electrify two of the three heliports located in Manhattan — Downtown Manhattan Heliport and East 34th Street. (The third heliport is privately owned.) Beta Technologies, which is also developing an electric aircraft, showed off its interoperable aircraft charging technology at the event, Aria Alamalhodaei writes for Tech Crunch. Continue reading original article.
The Military & Aerospace Electronics take:
15 November 2023 -The Volocopter 2X electric air taxi flew in a smooth and quiet manner. Volocopter's multicopter design is particularly suited for urban missions, producing zero emissions in flight and little noise pollution in a busy metropolis like NYC.
As part of the public showcase, the City of New York outlined a new vision for the future of the Downtown Manhattan Heliport, seeking to reduce emissions, noise pollution, and improve the residents' quality of life. It aims to reshape heliports such as DMH to accommodate eVTOL aircraft to diversify the city's mobility options to reduce congestion, while still meeting the transport needs of one of the busiest cities in the world.
"The [Mayor Eric] Adams Administration has been a leader in driving technology innovation and economic growth while simultaneously improving quality of life," said New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) President & CEO Andrew Kimball. "EDC's new strategy for the Downtown Manhattan Heliport reflects these priorities while making it an industry leader in the embrace of eVTOLS – a quieter and greener helicopter alternative – while at the same time facilitating maritime freight with last mile e-bike deliveries that takes trucks off the roads."
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Jamie Whitney, Senior Editor
Military + Aerospace Electronics
