DARPA’s ACE program announced today that it has successfully used AI to fly a fighter jet in a dogfight. Air Combat Evolution (ACE) pit the X-62A VISTA against manned F-16 aircraft in the skies above Edwards AFB in California.
There’s the XPENG AEROHT, and then the Jetson ONE personal eVTOL flying machine. At $128,000 USD, it features a lightweight aluminum and carbon fiber frame, powered by eight electric motors that propels it to a top speed of 63 mph.
Crisalion’s Concept Integrity is the first Spain-built air taxi and it has a drone-inspired propulsion system. Called FlyFree, it consists sets of four-rotor units attached to a pair of booms on a fixed wing, with each operating independently for a higher degree of control and reliability.
Photo credit: Colin Kerrigan / Mason Mashon / Red Bull Content Pool
Photographers Mason Mashon and Colin Kerrigan happened to be at the right place to capture two pilots flying across the total solar eclipse yesterday in Red Bull planes. More specifically, aerobatic pilots Kevin Coleman and Pete McLeod flew four feet apart, 1,500 feet in the sky.
Gravity Industries held the world’s first jet suit race in Dubai on February 28. Pilots were equipped with the company’s jet suits, each one powered by seven turbine engine generating a combined 1,500-horsepower and using the same kind of fuel as the Emirates’ Airbus A380.
Venus Aerospace has successfully completed its first supersonic drone flight test. Equipped with a Rotating Detonation Rocket Engine (RDRE) propulsion system, the drone was dropped at an altitude of 12,000 ft and accelerated to a top speed of Mach 0.9, flying for 10 miles.
The Boom Supersonic XB-1 aircraft demonstrator, the world’s first independently developed supersonic jet, successfully completed its first flight at the Mojave Air & Space Port in Mojave, California.
There’s Dream Chaser Tenacity, and then Radia WindRunner, the world’s largest plane. This aircraft measures 356 feet long, 79 feet tall and has a wingspan of 261 feet, making it ideal for transporting giant wind turbine blades to remote airstrips.
North American Wave Engine Corporation successfully demonstrated their unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with no moving parts. That’s right, power comes from a 50+ lbf (222+ N) thrust wave engine, complete with remote instant start on liquid fuel.