Beta Technologies has achieved the first piloted transition flights with its Alia 250 eVTOL aircraft prototype, the Vermont-based aircraft developer announced on April 23. A successful transition flight marks a significant milestone in the development of any eVTOL aircraft, demonstrating the core capabilities of vertical lift and horizontal cruise in combination.

Archer Aviation is bolstering its government relations efforts and opening an office in Washington, D.C., as the California-based eVTOL developer builds momentum for the certification of its four-passenger Midnight air taxi. Melissa McCaffrey has joined Archer as its head of state and local government affairs, and Lynda Tran, former senior advisor to U.S. transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg, is now an advisor to the company. If all goes according to plan, Archer will have a type certificate from the FAA in hand by the end of the year, with commercial air taxi operations launching in 2025.

At the Aero Friedrichshafen trade show in Germany last week, French start-up Aura Aero signed a purchase agreement with Norges Luftsportforbund, the Norwegian Air Sports Federation, for the purchase of an Integral E electric two-seat airplane. Norges Luftsportforbund is purchasing the Integral E in a tow-plane configuration and plans to use it to tug gliders at the Ole Reistad center for gliding near Elverum, Norway.

Electra has won a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract from the U.S. Army valued at $1.9 million for wind tunnel testing of the company’s hybrid-electric short takeoff and landing (eSTOL) aircraft. The award allows the U.S. Army to explore Electra’s blown-wing aircraft technology potential to broaden U.S. military capabilities, especially for fuel-efficient, resilient logistics in contested environments.

The General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) laid out key funding, policy, and other strategies in a white paper on “Accelerating Development of the Electric Aviation Sector in Europe.” Released last week during the Aero Friedrichshafen show in Germany, the white paper provides a range of recommendations for European regulators and policymakers to foster the emergence of electric aviation. The recommendations surround four major areas that the association believes are essential to support the nascent sector: bolster public funding; strengthen supply chains across Europe; establish appropriate policy; and properly fund and support EASA.

In a vote of confidence for Beta Technologies’ electric aviation infrastructure, the Underwriters Laboratory (UL) safety organization has certified the company’s “charge cube,” a Level 3 DC fast charger that supports electric aircraft as well as ground vehicles. UL certification is an internationally recognized safety badge that shows a product has been rigorously tested for compliance with safety standards and regulations.

Moya Aero has been actively flying its autonomous eVTOL technology demonstrator since the aircraft achieved its first flight on November 15. The Brazilian start-up reported this month that the 70 percent-scale test article has successfully completed 87 flights, and it shared some footage from the flight-test campaign in a new video narrated by company co-founder and CEO Alexandre Zaramela. Moya is developing the autonomous aircraft primarily for logistics and agricultural applications and says it will be able to carry 200 kilograms (440 pounds) of payload.