Electra’s EL2 Ultra Short hybrid-electric demonstrator aircraft has landed at and taken off from the Downtown Skyport (KJRB) in Manhattan. The flights on October 26 were part of the company’s “Life Beyond Runways” series of public displays to make the case for the nine-passenger EL9 model it is aiming to bring into commercial service from 2030.

Archer Aviation plans to launch eVTOL air taxi services around the busiest metropolitan areas in Texas: Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, and Austin. On October 23, the start-up said it will operate 10- to 20-minute flights in its four-passenger piloted eVTOL aircraft, which has yet to complete FAA type certification.

Moya Aero’s full-scale Moya 256 autonomous cargo eVTOL prototype has completed its first full transition from vertical takeoff to wing-borne flight and back, the Brazilian start-up announced on October 21. Instead of tilting its wings or rotors, the tandem-wing aircraft rotates its entire fuselage between hover and cruise. The company is also building a production-conforming prototype of its larger Moya 760, which it aims to fly by year-end.

Reliable Robotics has completed a round of autonomous flight trials with its converted Cessna 208B Grand Caravan at the main commercial airport in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Reliable announced on October 21 that the flights, part of the U.S. government-backed eVTOL Integration Pilot Program, were complete.

British eVTOL aircraft developer Skyfly has closed a $10 million seed funding round that it says will enable it to bring its Axe model to market. Beyond supporting the two-seat civil version the company wants to commercialize under FAA MOSAIC certification rules, the investment announced on October 20 could accelerate development of a hybrid-electric defense-specific variant.

Component manufacturing is complete for the first two underwing carriers that Starfighters Space plans to fly on its Lockheed F-104 Starfighters for Mach 2 test flights, the Florida-based company announced on October 8. Robby Moto Engineering, based in Casalmaggiore in northern Italy’s Lombardy region, manufactured the parts, which are now being shipped to the Starfighters’ base at the Kennedy Space Center for assembly.

FBO group Signature Aviation and vertiport developer UrbanV have launched a joint venture to support advanced air mobility operations in the U.S. The companies announced the Signature UrbanV Alliance business on October 21 at the NBAA-BACE business aviation trade show, building on an agreement signed last year.