Focus increases on electric and autonomous aircraft technologies

By Eric Miller|December 2024

The General Aviation Technical Committee fosters research and development related to general aviation technologies and systems and serves as an advocate for general aviation awareness.

The general aviation community made significant flight testing strides in 2024 toward a sustainable future. In May, FAA released its “Air Traffic by the Numbers” report of 2022 general aviation flights. There were 26.9 million general aviation flight hours, a slight increase from the 26.4 million hours recorded in the 2021 survey. There were 209,540 active general aviation aircraft across the U.S. The report also contained select results from 2023, including that the number of active pilot certificates increased 6.6% to 806,939, and remote/drone pilot certificates increased 21.2% to 368,633. As of September, there were 5,165 public use airports and 14,458 private use airports across the country.

In February, Reliable Robotics and FAA made progress in the area of autonomy certification, agreeing to the testing and analysis that the California-based company plans to conduct to demonstrate that its continuous autopilot engagement system satisfies FAA safety and performance requirements. The company plans to retrofit a Cessna Caravan 208 for autonomous taxi, takeoff and landing operations.

In March, Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. announced that its G700 had received FAA type certification. The G700 is the fastest business jet design in the Gulfstream fleet, with a maximum operating speed of Mach 0.935.

In April, BETA Technologies of Vermont completed a piloted transition flight with its ALIA 250 electric vertical takeoff and landing prototype, starting from vertical lift and transitioning to forward cruise on fixed wings. BETA is also developing a conventional takeoff and landing variant of ALIA and plans to commercialize both aircraft in the coming years.

In May, Virginia-based Electra demonstrated ultra-short takeoffs and landings with its EL-2 Goldfinch demonstrator. The aircraft operated with less than 300 feet (91 kilometers) of runway, opening access to locations only helicopters can reach. The Goldfinch ultizes a blown-lift design with eight electric motors to significantly increase lift, allowing the hybrid- electric aircraft to take off and land in just one-tenth of the space needed by conventional aircraft. Electra in November unveiled the design for a nine-passenger aircraft, the EL9 Ultra Short, with entry into commercial service planned under FAA Part 23 regulations.

In June, Archer Aviation of California received its Part 135 Air Carrier and Operator Certificate from FAA, the second air taxi developer to do so. This certificate allows Archer to begin flying conventional aircraft to refine its air taxi operations and procedures. Archer in September announced it had reached a milestone of 400 test flights this year.

In May, Joby Aviation of California announced completion of its preproduction flight test program and that it was moving onto the next phase of flight testing with its S4 air taxis. That preproduction phase included carrying out 31 piloted flights in two days in January. Those flights, conducted with FAA, demonstrated the S4’s operational characteristics and precision landing capabilities. Joby in May said it had completed 1,500 with its two preproduction aircraft over the past four years, including some 100 flights with a pilot onboard. In July, Joby announced it had flown a new hydrogen-electric demonstrator for 523 miles (942 kilometers), with water as the only byproduct. The flight demonstrated the potential benefits of hydrogen technology.