UrbanAero, which I’ve posted about occasionally over the years, is developing vertical takeoff and landing vehicles, both manned and unmanned, based on a design using large ducted fans. They have recently split their efforts into two subsidiaries:  Tactical Robotics will focus on military and homeland security markets while Metro Skyways will pursue civilian applications.

They recently posted an update on the testing of the large AirMule prototype:

Testing of the AirMule prototype is continuing.  As of June 2013 we have already accumulated a few hours of testing with the new six bladed rotors installed. The blade design complies with the loads specified in the FAA’s FAR 35 standard for propellers.  To verify the strength of the blades we have built a representative blade retainment section and tested it as shown in the attached photographs. The tests were run to twice the centrifugal load (which amounted to 22 tons pull on each blade retention fitting).

Most of the testing at this time is focused on improving the automatic takeoff and landing sequence in preparation for transitional flight which will commence in the next few weeks.  The first transitional tests will be carried out with the aircraft still tethered to the ground but this time with a single safety wire long enough to permit flight to the end of the runway.  The full test sequence will be a flight to the end of the runway, stopping, turning 180 degrees in hover and flying back to the point of origin with a final landing on a marker placed on the ground.  We will update on the progress of these tests in our next update.

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A somewhat similar approach to VTOL vehicles is Aerofex‘s Tandem Duct Aerial Vehicle, i.e. a cool flying motorcycle. They occasionally post an update on their blog and here is an item from June 25th:  Flight Log: Deconstructed Vertical Flight

A Honda commercial recently used a clip showing the Aerofex vehicle. The Aerofex – YouTube Channel offers several brief videos of a prototype vehicle in action such as this one: