Results for: lilium
Lilium Hires former Rolls-Royce Aerospace Head of Communications
20 December 2018 ||
3
min read
German air taxi company Lilium has added to its team former head of communications at Rolls-Royce Aerospace Oliver Walker-Jones. The team now includes former high-ranking executives from Airbus and Audi, as well as Frank Stephenson, who worked in design at Ferrari, BMW, and MINI. At Rolls-Royce Aerospace, Walker-Jones’ role included acting on the outward-facing aspect of the company as well...
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Lilium Hires former Rolls-Royce Aerospace Head of Communications
20 December 2018 ||
3
min read
German air taxi company Lilium has added to its team former head of communications at Rolls-Royce Aerospace Oliver Walker-Jones. The team now includes former high-ranking executives from Airbus and Audi, as well as Frank Stephenson, who worked in design at Ferrari, BMW, and MINI.
At Rolls-Royce Aerospace, Walker-Jones’ role included acting on the outward-facing aspect of the company as well as internal communications. At Lilium, he will be responsible for much the same thing, but will also focus on helping the business grow globally. This suggests that Lilium has plans to go global rather than just staying local to Germany.
Concept image of a future Lilium vertiport
The addition of Walker-Jones is important to note as Rolls-Royce is working on its own eVTOL design as well. Mr. Walker-Jones’ speaks to his decision to join Lilium:
“We have the chance to inspire and excite people of all ages and backgrounds across the globe and I can’t wait to make the most of that opportunity.”
“I’m genuinely thrilled to be joining a company of world-class engineers, remarkable designers, and top managers, and I look forward to playing my part in telling the Lilium story.”–Oliver Walker-Jones, new Head of Communications at Lilium and former Head of Communications at Rolls-Royce Aerospace
As a reminder, The Lilium Jet is unique in that it is one of the few eVTOLs propelled by jets. The design features two fixed-wings with a total of thirty-six small ducted jet-fans that can tilt between vertical and horizontal flight, giving the Lilium jet one of the sleekest aesthetics on the market. Lilium will soon face the challenge of launching air taxi services globally with a planned launch of 2025.
The Lilium Jet, which flew its maiden test flight in 2017
Why its important: Prior to the hiring of Walker-Jones, Lilium has also recently hired Mirko Reuter, former Head of Automated Driving at Audi, Jakob Waeschenbach, former Head of Equipment Installation at Airbus, and Frank Stephenson, who worked in design at Ferrari, BMW, and MINI. . With these new hires, Lilium shows that it’s serious about taking on the future of on-demand eVTOL flight, and with so many experienced professionals on board, it has continued to position itself well to lead the industry.
Lilium Adds Former Executives From Airbus and Audi
11 November 2018 ||
5
min read
The Lilium air taxi is getting closer to market. It recently hired Mirko Reuter, former head of Automated Driving at Audi, Jakob Waeschenbach, former head of Equipment Installation at Airbus, and Rochus Moenter, former Vice President of Finance and Leasing at Airbus. Lilium is a German company based out of Munich. Its air taxi design is one of the sleekest on the market, and...
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Lilium Adds Former Executives From Airbus and Audi
11 November 2018 ||
5
min read
The Lilium air taxi is getting closer to market. It recently hired Mirko Reuter, former head of Automated Driving at Audi, Jakob Waeschenbach, former head of Equipment Installation at Airbus, and Rochus Moenter, former Vice President of Finance and Leasing at Airbus.
Lilium is a German company based out of Munich. Its air taxi design is one of the sleekest on the market, and with over $90 million in funding achieved just last year, its well on its way to being one of the world’s first on demand air taxis.
Mirko Reuter, the new Head of Autonomous Flight at Lilium, was formerly the Head of Automated Driving at Audi. There, he led the development of all automated driving functions, as well as the development of vehicle platforms technologies and future vehicle concepts. At Lilium, he will be responsible for the process of developing the technologies necessarily to bring autonomous flights completely to market.
“I am deeply committed to our mission of creating a revolutionary service that enables effective and affordable transportation that is widely used among all sectors of society. At Lilium, we are building a new and revolutionary way of transport, and I am very excited to be a part of it.” -Mikro Router
Jakob Waeschenbach, formerly the Head of Equipment Installation at Airbus, will be the new Head of Aircraft Assembly at Lilium. Waeschenbach spent years at Airbus ensuring quality in manufacturing, engineering, logistics, supply chain and finance. He also developed Airbus’s new and certified production line of the Single Aisle Family of aircraft. At Lilium, he will “lead the convergence between aircraft and automotive production”, and will assist in establish Lilium’s first production facility.
“I am thrilled to shape the early stages of merging automotive and aircraft production to finally change travelling and commuting in urban spaces. Catching onto this unique momentum is incredibly exciting.” -Jakob Waeschenbach,
Lilium will also be adding Roechus Moenter, who was the former Vice President of Airbus’s Finance and Leasing Group. Moenter will be the General Counsel and Head of Legal for Lilium.
The company is unique in that it plans to be a direct competitor to UberAir. Like Uber Elevate, it plans to roll out its services in 2025. Unlike many of the current eVTOL developers on the market, Lilium has not sought to become a partner for Uber, and instead has opted to develop its own operations and front-end service. Potential routes are Manhattan to JFK and Paris to London.
As a reminder, the Lilium is a eVTOL featuring tilted duct-fans that can travel at speeds up to 300km/h with a 300km range. It’s design features a total of 18 integrated jet engines that can seamlessly transition from horizontal to Vertical flight. Lilium completed it’s maiden flight in April 2017, and Lilium plans to complete it’s first manned test flight in 2019. Read more about the Lilium eVTOL.
Why it’s important:
With this major hire from two big players in vehicle innovation and production, Lilium further marks it’s place as main competitor for air taxi services. With Uber as one of the other biggest companies in the space, Lilium needs to be doing everything it can to put itself at the forefront of the industry, as conveyed by Lilium CEO and co-founder:
“To bring the best talent to Lilium has always been our goal. We are delighted to welcome such a high calibre of new team members that will bring a wealth of expertise in key strategic areas to our growing company and further enable our vision.”
Lilium Jet
21 June 2018 ||
< 1
min read
Quick Summary
The Lilium Jet is an eVTOL designed and manufactured near Munich, Germany. The Jet uses swiveling ducted fans to provide vertical thrust for takeoff and landing. These same fans then slowly rotate towards rear facing as the Jet accelerates and converts to its forward flight mode.
Lilium, a Munich, Germany based company
Daniel Wiegand
Lilium Jet
Stage of Development
Preliminary Design
Prototype Build
Flight Testing
Certification
Commercially Operating
Technical Details
From Lilium's Technical Overview
"At Lilium, we have invented a completely new aircraft concept for the modern age. While vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) itself is not new – after all, quadcopters, tilt rotors and tilt wings are well-known concepts – we did not want to accept the compromises inherent to these configurations.
Quadcopters excel with their simplicity but are highly inefficient in cruise flight. Transition aircraft can fly three times faster and ten times further with an equally sized battery, but system complexity is usually much higher.
So, the goal was set: defining a transition aircraft concept with better performance in safety, noise, speed, range and payload than existing concepts, while cutting complexity to one third.
We challenged physical limitations, mechanical complexity and energy laws, until we came up with something new and unique. Something simple and efficient."
The Jet
The Lilium Jet consists of a rigid winged body with 12 flaps. Each one carries three electric jet engines. Depending on the flight mode, the flaps tilt from a vertical into a horizontal position. At take-off, all flaps are tilted vertical, so that the engines can lift the aircraft. Once airborne, the flaps gradually tilt into a horizontal position, leading the aircraft to accelerate. When they have reached complete horizontal position, all lift necessary to stay aloft is provided by the wings as on a conventional airplane.
One Flap,
Covering it All.
The beauty of this system is its simplicity. In comparison to existing concepts, Lilium Jets require no gearboxes, no foldable or variable pitch propellers, no water-cooling, and no aerodynamic steering flaps. Just tiltable electric engines.
What’s more: The Lilium Jet has the highest possible structural efficiency. As we can provide differential thrust from the engines in cruise flight, no stabilizing tail is necessary.
Efficient and Fast.
The design of the electric engines ensures a very low drag coefficient in cruise flight, leading to a higher speed and range. The energy consumption per seat and kilometer thereby becomes comparable to an electric car – but the jet is 3 times faster.
More Efficiency at Low Speeds.
The Lilium Jet uses an integrated high-lift system. The objective is to increase the lift of the wings even at low speeds to save energy. While hovering is very energy-consuming, as an aircraft must provide thrust equal to its own weight, dynamic lift of wings consumes much less energy to stay aloft. So, it is important to create as much dynamic lift from the wings as possible, even at very low speeds.
Electric Jet Engines
The electric jet engines work like turbofan jet engines in a regular passenger jet. They suck in air, compress it and push it out the back. However, the compressor fan in the front is not turned by a gas turbine, but by a high performance electric motor. Therefore, they run much quieter and completely emission-free.
Our Take on the Lilium Jet
The Lilium Jet is sleek, fast, and successful thus far in flight testing. Lilium has produced (in under 5 years) a very viable prototype eVTOL with a target entry to market of 2025, and a target first manned flight in early 2019. Given their past timeline and rate of progress, both of these goals seem achievable by the German team. Furthermore, the company has gone to great lengths to ensure that their entire experience matches the design paradigms of their eVTOL, and that they make no compromises in safety or the operation of their eVTOL. While keeping relatively quiet in terms of public demonstration flights, the videos depicting flight testing of the Jet are impressive enough on their own and should be a good indicator for future success of the company.
Lilium Adds Frank Stephenson as Head of Product Design
24 April 2018 ||
2
min read
Lilium has added the renowned Frank Stephenson to head their product design. In a news release late Monday, Lilium announced that the car designer, who has worked with Ferrari, MINI, and BMW, would be joining the Lilium Team. “My last job was as high up as you could be in the car design world. The obvious question was – what...
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Lilium Adds Frank Stephenson as Head of Product Design
24 April 2018 ||
2
min read
Lilium has added the renowned Frank Stephenson to head their product design. In a news release late Monday, Lilium announced that the car designer, who has worked with Ferrari, MINI, and BMW, would be joining the Lilium Team. “My last job was as high up as you could be in the car design world. The obvious question was – what next? But it wasn’t one I could easily answer. And then this incredible company came along and it immediately felt like exactly the right move” said Stephenson.
“Throughout my whole career I’ve worked hand in hand with engineers, creating vehicles that will be mechanically efficient and technically effective while also looking beautiful. I will now apply those same principles to this very latest innovation in aviation” he added.
Why it’s important: The draw of big name talent to the flying car industry is a signal that the world’s heavy hitting designers are interested in this emerging field. In terms of notoriety, there are few names that carry more clout than Stephenson’s. The move by Stephenson is further testament to the respect of an industry that is growing globally, and the amount of traction and validity of design the prototypes are being given.
Read the press release here.
Source
- Lillium Press Release
- Image: Getty
The Airbus Altiscope Blueprint
14 February 2019 ||
3
min read
Airbus has created the blueprint for Airbus Altiscope, and airspace management system that envisions the future of urban airspace. Airbus Altiscope envisions that future airspace will include vehicles of all kinds ranging from delivery drones to air taxis. Primarily, it understands that much of airspace management will be automated, with humans only acting as oversight managers. In Airbus’s view, this change will...
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The Airbus Altiscope Blueprint
14 February 2019 ||
3
min read
Airbus has created the blueprint for Airbus Altiscope, and airspace management system that envisions the future of urban airspace.
Airbus Altiscope envisions that future airspace will include vehicles of all kinds ranging from delivery drones to air taxis. Primarily, it understands that much of airspace management will be automated, with humans only acting as oversight managers. In Airbus’s view, this change will be absolutely necessary given the prediction that air travel will increase tenfold by 2030.
Airbus’s vision for the future of Urban Airspace
While the full Airbus Altiscope blueprint is a 30 pages, the introduction video from Airbus gives a brief example of how airspace might work in the 2030s. According to Airbus, autonomous guidance systems will be able to re-arrange the multitude types of air traffic according to changing needs such sporting events. In this situation, media drones would be given certain from which to operate, air taxis would be rerouted to accommodate the event, and medical air vehicles would be given priority. The main point is that this system could successfully manage a great number of aircraft at once.
Airbus Altiscope vision for Airspace management around sporting events
Also in the video, Airbus mentions that part of its current effort is running simulations in sync with decision modeling in order to evaluate and minimize risk. These simulations seek to take in all the considerations of future airspace, ranging from data-driven policy making to noise levels in suburban neighborhoods. The full video is shown below:
Why it’s important: With the Altiscope blueprint, Airbus is joining the effort of many other companies to build out future airspace. Both NASA and the FAA are working on conducting UAM testing, and Boeing has worked with AI firm Sparkcognition to found SkyGrid. AirMap, a company based in Santa Monica, has already begun using software to manage commercial and recreational drone flights. As the industry grows, it is becoming more apparent that software-based airspace management will be crucial to the urban air mobility market.
Hoversurf’s New Video Blog
13 February 2019 ||
2
min read
Hoversurf, the maker of the acclaimed Hoversurf Hoverbike, has begun a new video blog discussing urban air mobility. This week, Alex Atamanov explains the Venturi engine, which uses an electric ducted fan. Electric ducted fans are part of many popular VTOL designs: Follow Hoversurf on Youtube Hoversurf began delivering its Hoverbike to customers in September of 2018, starting with the Dubai police...
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Hoversurf’s New Video Blog
13 February 2019 ||
2
min read
Hoversurf, the maker of the acclaimed Hoversurf Hoverbike, has begun a new video blog discussing urban air mobility.
This week, Alex Atamanov explains the Venturi engine, which uses an electric ducted fan. Electric ducted fans are part of many popular VTOL designs:
Hoversurf began delivering its Hoverbike to customers in September of 2018, starting with the Dubai police force. Read more about the latest news from Hoversurf here.
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Frankfurt Airport Makes Air Taxi Integration Plans
12 February 2019 ||
4
min read
Frankfurt Airport is partnering with Volocopter in building the ground infrastructure and operations for electric air taxi services. Frankfurt Airport and Volocopter envision passengers using Volocopter air taxis to transition from other transportation hubs to the Frankfurt Airport, and vice Versa. The current focus is planning for smooth passenger handling on the ground and efficient integration into the existing transport...
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Frankfurt Airport Makes Air Taxi Integration Plans
12 February 2019 ||
4
min read
Frankfurt Airport is partnering with Volocopter in building the ground infrastructure and operations for electric air taxi services.
Frankfurt Airport and Volocopter envision passengers using Volocopter air taxis to transition from other transportation hubs to the Frankfurt Airport, and vice Versa. The current focus is planning for smooth passenger handling on the ground and efficient integration into the existing transport infrastructure. The two companies will examine these cases with the potential integration of a Volocopter Port.
With Volocopter ports, Frankfurt Airport hopes to place themselves at the forefront of modern transport. Anke Giesen, COO at Frankfurt Airport, said: “We want to be the first airport in Europe to harness the potential of electric air taxis in partnership with pioneer Volocopter – for the benefit of our passengers and the Frankfurt/Rhine-Main region. This partnership underscores Fraport AG’s role as a key driver of innovation in diverse fields.”
A Volocopter 2X prototype at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 2017
Volocopter has already completed successful test flights in Dubai and has also signed on with Singapore for intra-city demonstration and test flights later this year. Said Florian Reuter, CEO Volocopter GmbH:
“Providing the ideal connection between the city center and the airport poses a huge challenge for the world’s major cities. Together with Fraport AG, we are excited to pioneer the implementation of an air taxi service at one of Europe’s most important airports. We will be tapping into Fraport’s wealth of experience to integrate the Volocopter Service safely and efficiently into the complex array of processes required at a major international airport.”
Volocopter has also recently been the subject of other infrastructure integration examinations, including one by a design firm in the UK. Volcopter’s original vision for its port featured a conveyer belt system which would allow for quick storage and battery cell switching:
Why it’s important: The Frankfurt International Airport is one of the many companies the world over beginning to integrate electric air taxi services into their building designs. Others include Paramount World Center in Miami, BLADE, the VRCO landing pad in the UK, the Taskers residential development in Australia, and more. These developments indicate that building UAM infrastructure will likely be nearly as great an industry as manufacturing the vehicles themselves.
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Urban Air Mobility – The Quest for the Right Shape*
11 February 2019 ||
10
min read
This article originally appeared on LinkedIn, authored by Mehmet Emre YAZICI. * The word “shape” is freely used to describe the external configuration of the aircraft. Why Airframe Shape is Important? For the first time in known history, humankind is this close to make the “flying-car” a reality. Today, 70+ manufacturers worldwide, (including; Airbus, Bell, Boeing, Embraer, Rolls-Royce, Toyota, Volvo, etc.) are seriously involved...
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Urban Air Mobility – The Quest for the Right Shape*
11 February 2019 ||
10
min read
This article originally appeared on LinkedIn, authored by Mehmet Emre YAZICI.
* The word “shape” is freely used to describe the external configuration of the aircraft.
Why Airframe Shape is Important?
For the first time in known history, humankind is this close to make the “flying-car” a reality. Today, 70+ manufacturers worldwide, (including; Airbus, Bell, Boeing, Embraer, Rolls-Royce, Toyota, Volvo, etc.) are seriously involved in developing some form of an electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicle. As of September 2018, total global investment volume has exceeded $1 billion. According to The Electric VTOL News™, since 2011 some 140 different eVTOL projects based on four basic configurations, have been announced. While wingless multi-copterconfiguration is the most favored (45%), electric helicopters are not-so-popular (3%).
There obviously are major difficulties ahead. Although, the prioritization differs from person to person, I believe that the top three are; regulatory issues, environmental effects (mostly noise) and public acceptance (due to security and privacy concerns). So, configuration of the aircraft is not among the top three challenges that UAM (Urban Air Mobility) pioneers are facing today. Why do I bring it forward, then?
Simply because, throughout the life-cycle of the aircraft, major changes on the airframe are avoided, not only due to cost or performance concerns, but also because of huge re-certification efforts required. Some minor modifications, however, such as adding winglets or external domes for sensors which are covered under supplementary type certificates (STC) are more common. Beyond that, you can easily change or upgrade almost any other component (avionics, engines, furnishing, etc.) that comes on the aircraft. So, the airframe shape or form (housing all the other components) becomes single fundamental element that will affect all; regulatory, environmental or public concerns.
Who is Doing What?
According to polls, the public tends to favor eVTOL products by well-known manufacturers vs the start-ups. So, it will be worthwhile to see which configuration the aerospace and automotive giants are preferring:
- Airbus: A³ Vahana and CityAirbus
Back in 2015, Airbus had been the first (among the traditional aerospace companies) to announce its plans to secure a place in the commercial eVTOL market. “A-cubed Vahana” is a tilt-wing (i.e. vectored thrust) aircraft project being handled by an Airbus subsidiary in the Silicon Valley. Whereas, CityAirbus is a four passenger, autonomous wingless multi-copter program ran by the Airbus Helicopters.
- Bell: Nexus and APT
Nexus is a six-passenger vectored thrust aircraft announced in 2017 Uber Elevate Summit. On the other hand, APT (Autonomous Pod Transport) is 20 to 32 kg payload tail-sitter that we can classify as a vectored thrust vehicle.
- Boeing/ Aurora: PAV and CAV
Creatively named as the Passenger Air Vehicle (PAV) developed together with Aurora Flight Sciences is part of the Boeing NeXt urban air mobility project. It is a two-seat lift+push design which made its maiden flight in January 2019. Also a part of Boing NeXt, CAV (Cargo Air Vehicle) is a 225 kg payload wingless multi-copter.
- Embrarer: DreamMaker
Also announced during the 2017 Uber Elevate Summit, the DreamMaker is a piloted four passenger lift+push aircraft.
- Rolls-Royce: EVTOL
During 2018 Farnborough Airshow, Rolls-Royce announced the EVTOL concept. Rolls-Royce’s aircraft is a hybrid tilt-wing (i.e. vectored thrust) carrying 4-5 passengers.
- Lockheed Martin/ Sikorsky: VERT and ARES (with Piasecki)
Lockheed Martin and its new subsidiary Sikorsky are working on both military and commercial VTOL concepts. While Lockheed Martin is indulged in development of a vectored thrust configuration for military use together with AVX and Piasecki, Sikorsky is working on a project named VERT. And that is all we know, for the time being…
- Toyota: Cartivator SkyDrive and Joby S4 (co-investor)
In 2017 Toyota agreed to invest in Cartivator -a Japanese start-up, to develop the world’s smallest flying car. SkyDrive concept is a single-seater wingless multi-copter. Additionally, Toyota is among the investors in the Joby Aviation’s S4 program. S4 is a four-seat vectored thrust aircraft.
- Volvo/ Lotus: Terrafugia TF-2
Chinese company Zhejiang Geely, which owns the Volvo and Lotus car brands, has acquired Terrafugia in 2017. In its current form, TF-2 is rather a modal transportation “system” than a simple “air vehicle”. The flying component of the well thought-out design is a lift+push solution.
Out of the 12 (excluding Sikorsky’s VERT) vehicles above, 50% have preferred vectored thrust, while lift+push and wingless multi-copter have 25% preferences each. The choice of giants are not in-line with the alternatives preferred in the eVTOL community. So, we can easily say that the best configuration is yet to be agreed.
Basic Disadvantages of Popular Configurations
The wingless (multi-copter) designs (preferred by 45% of the whole community and 25% of aerospace and automotive giants), although very popular and made the “drone revolution” possible, are doomed due to their slow top speeds. For commercial eVTOLs, the economics of the vehicle would dictate to perform as many cycles as possible in a given time. In addition to that, large un-protected propellers placed close to the ground is a major safety concern for passengers and crew alike. Therefore, although simple and well understood, multi-copter designs will unlikely be the choice for a successful flying-car design. (Best illustrative example: EHang 184/ 216)
Despite the simplicity and weight advantages offered by lift+cruise designs (preferred by 12% of the whole community and 25% of aerospace and automotive giants), they inherently possess serious safety challenges. Un-protected (i.e. un-ducted) horizontal propellers, operating very close to ground (usually due to the size limitations of small vehicles) constitute a safety risk just like the multi-copters. Therefore, I see a bleak future for the designs utilizing unprotected props located close to ground. (Best illustrative example: Boeing/ Aurora PAV)
Vectored thrust designs (preferred by 40% of the whole community and 50% of aerospace and automotive giants), provide the best compromise between versatility and speed. But, when utilize un-protected propellers (tilt-wings mostly), they have the same disadvantages of lift+cruise designs (Best illustrative example: Airbus A³ Vahana). On the other hand, ducts employed to eliminate risks associated with props, bring in weight disadvantages and some additional drag during the cruise (Best illustrative example: Bell Nexus).
Then What?
So, what is the solution? Which design will prevail? Frankly speaking, I don’t know! But, I believe that the applications employing Distributed Electric Propulsion (DEP) concept through small units and in large quantities are closer to an optimum solution. Such configurations give way to enclose unnecessary units during cruise in other components (i.e. wings) to reduce drag. Additionally, large amount of redundancy in propulsion system relaxes safety margins. Aurora Flight Science’s VTOL X-Plane Program XV-24A LightningStrike and Lilium’s Electric Jet are best available examples of this concept, both of which have successfully demonstrated the feasibility of the concept.
The LightningStrike program had aimed to develop a vertical take-off and landing 12,000 lb (5.4 t) demonstrator aircraft with 18 motors in the wings and 6 motors in canards, that will achieve a top sustained flight speed of 300-400 kt (555-740 km/h). A 20%-scale demonstrator aircraft weighing 325 lb (147 kg) with a flight model of the full-scale demonstrator was flown in March 2016. Surprisingly, in April 2018 it was decided that the subscale model demonstrated the program’s major objectives and DARPA cancelled the project.
Lilium’s two-seat “Eagle” prototype completed a series of unmanned test flights in April 2017. It had a total of 36 electric fans: 12 on the upper surface of each wing with tilting flaps and two rows of three fans on each side of the canard, which was designed to be retracted in cruise flight.
Until someone comes up with anti-gravity technology, I believe this is the best shape for flying-cars of urban air mobility initiative…
VTOL Aviation India
11 February 2019 ||
< 1
min read
Quick Summary
VTOL Aviation India Pvt. Ltd'. is a company formed to promote advanced technology products under the 'Make In India' initiative. The company is developing battery-powered eVTOL aircraft for cargo and passenger transport - a two-seat and four-seat version. They are optionally piloted and are foreseen to have commercial and defense applications.
VTOL Aviation India is based in Navi Mumbai and is in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur.
Kalyan Chowdhury
Stage of Development
Preliminary Design
Prototype Build
Flight Testing
Certification
Commercially Operating
Technical Details
Company Name: VTOL Aviation India, in collaboration with Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur.
Headquarters: Navi Mumbai, India
Zephyr Airworks CEO: Kalyan Chowdhury
Type of Machine: Winged air taxi
Power: Battery-operated propellors.
Capacity: Designed for two or four passengers.
Speed: 100-250 km/hr for model 1, with a plan to increase for model 2.
Funding: $150 million already invested with a plan for $2 billion total from internal sources and bank loans.
Entry Into Service: Expected 2025
Our Take on VTOL Aviation India
VTOL Aviation India is striving to be the first in the aerospace sector to achieve the 'Make in India' goal - a government-launched initiative to encourage 100% of a product to be manufactured domestically. With Indian nationalism behind them, the company has been able to quickly develop small-scale, proof-of-concept prototypes for its take on urban air mobility. Kalyan Chowdhury, who has valuable experience in the Shipping and Logistics Industry, is advantageously teaming with resources at IITK that have the time and experience necessary for this project. The company seems to be well-poised to be a breakthrough for the aviation sector in India, though it does face strong international competition that is expected to be quicker to market. That being said, VTOL Aviation India has a steadfast commitment to safety with its focus on the vehicles' robust battery management system - any delay in entry into service compared to competitors could easily be outweighed by safer onboard systems.
Airbus and Race E Partner for Electric Plane Race Series
08 February 2019 ||
4
min read
Airbus has recently signed on as a partner to Air Race E, which will host the world’s first electric air race series in 2020. Air Race E was created under Air Race Events, the same company that created the Air Race 1 series that many know as formula one air racing. In this sport, eight participant airplanes race around a 5km...
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Airbus and Race E Partner for Electric Plane Race Series
08 February 2019 ||
4
min read
Airbus has recently signed on as a partner to Air Race E, which will host the world’s first electric air race series in 2020.
Photo of an Air Race 1 series, which many know as formula one air racing. The Air Race E series will follow a similar format.
Air Race E was created under Air Race Events, the same company that created the Air Race 1 series that many know as formula one air racing. In this sport, eight participant airplanes race around a 5km oval circuit at just 10 meters off the ground.
Blueprint of an Air Race 1 race course, which will also be used for Air Race E.
Airbus is partnering with Air Race E to drive the development of efficient and well-engineered electric aircraft. According to Grazia Vittadini, Chief Technology Officer of Airbus, “We want to motivate manufacturers to showcase their technologies across the full spectrum of electric propulsion systems and components. This partnership enables us to demonstrate our commitment to staying at the leading edge of electric propulsion and developing a new ecosystem.”
By testing these new technologies, Airbus most likely also hopes to push its urban air mobility capabilities forward as well. In November of 2018 at Drone Week Amsterdam, Airbus showcased the prototype of the modular vehicle Pop.Up Next, and last February it successfully flew the Airbus Vahana prototype.
Airbus Pop.up mock-up at Drone Week Amsterdam 2018.
Air Race E and Airbus are also working with the University of Nottingham to develop a prototype race aircraft. Part of this work has included building and designing the electric motor, as well as the battery and electronics systems:
In the past, Airbus has made other forays into electric aircraft. In 2015, it hosted the E-Fan project, which focused on building an electric aircraft to successfully cross the English channel. Since then, E-Fan leader and former CTO of Airbus John Botti left Airbus to work on the Voltaero hybrid electric aircraft. You can hear TransportUP’s podcast with Johnn Botti here.
The Voltaero hybrid electric aircraft concept being made by Airbus ex-CTO John Botti
The Airbus E-Fan project electric aircraft flown in 2015
Why it’s important: The development of urban air mobility requires tremendous growth in the electric aircraft manufacturing industry. Electric aircraft have a slew of new mechanical, aerodynamic, and legal requirements. By helping to put more electric aircraft in the air, Airbus is investing in research and technology that will greatly push forward electric urban air mobility.
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Will Airbnb Enter the Flying Car Industry?
08 February 2019 ||
4
min read
This article appeared first in Fast Company, written by Ruth Reader. In 2017, Brian Chesky, CEO of home-sharing company Airbnb, pondered what the perfect flight experience would look like. Now he may finally get it. Airbnb has hired Fred Reid, an executive with deep airline and aviation experience, to head up the company’s global transportation efforts. Reid, former CEO of...
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Will Airbnb Enter the Flying Car Industry?
08 February 2019 ||
4
min read
This article appeared first in Fast Company, written by Ruth Reader.
In 2017, Brian Chesky, CEO of home-sharing company Airbnb, pondered what the perfect flight experience would look like. Now he may finally get it. Airbnb has hired Fred Reid, an executive with deep airline and aviation experience, to head up the company’s global transportation efforts. Reid, former CEO of Virgin America, most recently led a unit at commercial aviation startup Kitty Hawk devoted to building an autonomous and electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft; Cora.
Rumors of Airbnb’s flight ambitions first made headlines at the end of 2016. The company was reportedly considering a dabble in flight booking. There were also discussions to acquire a flight booking app and sketched drawings of Airbnb’s logo on planes, according to the Information. Around the same time, Chesky queried the masses on what the ideal flight might look like. In addition to flights, Airbnb has kicked around the idea of connecting travelers with ground transport–anything from a car to pick you up at the airport to rentals or car shares.
Ultimately, Chesky wants Airbnb to be what he calls an “end-to-end travel platform,” essentially a place where people can book all legs of a trip (a way to get there, a place to stay, stuff to do, and a way to get around). Airbnb insists it is not creating its own airline or transportation services. Instead, Reid will be in charge of forming relationships with travel companies that might eventually provide services–like flights–on Airbnb’s network.
What will that look like? Perhaps something like Experiences, Airbnb’s activity booking section. Unlike Homes, where just about anyone can post a rental, Experiences offers a more curated selection of services. “Part of the lesson I learned from Homes was: Curate the marketplace, manage it more, people have to qualify, we have to prove everybody,” Chesky told Fast Company last year. What that has meant for the company is sifting through thousands of applications, approving a small percentage, and in certain cases helping to develop experiences with third parties. That same wisdom is likely to marshal Airbnb’s approach to bringing transportation services onto its platform.
Expect an emphasis on quality and uniqueness.
In the last two years, Experiences has seen big growth. Since last year, Experiences has gone from 60 cities to 1,000 cities. There are now nearly 24,000 Experiences on Airbnb, the company says. The platform as a whole is also getting bigger. There are 5 million places to stay on Airbnb, and the company expects to hit 500 million guest arrivals through its platform by the end of the first quarter 2019. At the beginning of 2017, the company had completed 146 million guest arrivals.
Why it’s important: While AirBnB hasn’t committed to any plans or announced official work to enter the urban air mobility industry, the company’s ever increasing push to offer more than just lodging to its customers has brought the advent of “experiences”. What the company decides to do next is still up in the air – but that’s exactly where it might stay.
The Challenges of Producing Composites for Air Taxis
07 February 2019 ||
5
min read
Content in part from WIRED Carbon fiber is one of the strongest and most lightweight materials in existence. Its prevalence has steadily grown in the past 10 years – it’s been used in everything from stunt planes to racing drones to SpaceX rockets. Many of the 100+ VTOL companies in development companies utilize carbon fiber in their designs. Carbon fiber mainly...
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The Challenges of Producing Composites for Air Taxis
07 February 2019 ||
5
min read
Content in part from WIRED
Carbon fiber is one of the strongest and most lightweight materials in existence. Its prevalence has steadily grown in the past 10 years – it’s been used in everything from stunt planes to racing drones to SpaceX rockets. Many of the 100+ VTOL companies in development companies utilize carbon fiber in their designs.
Examples of some of the VTOLs that use carbon fiber in their designs. Airbus Vahana (top left) Opener BlackFly (top right), Volocopter 2X (bottom left) and Workhorse SureFly (bottom right)
Carbon fiber mainly consists of carbon atoms, bonded together with crystals. Strips of fiber that contain these atoms are then woven together into a sheet or fabric, which can be used for civil engineering, aerospace, and more. What makes carbon advantageous over other materials is its low weight and high tensile strength.
A close up of a sheet of woven carbon fiber
Carbon fiber has been used in the aerospace industry for years, replacing aluminum on aircraft like the Airbus A350 XWB and the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. It’s also been used in bicycles and Formula One cars, making it an ideal material for eVTOL Air Taxis. In fact, carbon fiber may be absolutely crucial to these designs, since many of them seek total or partial use of electric power. In an industry where battery technology is still evolving, designers and engineers are doing everything possible to reduce the amount of power these aircraft require to fly.
Kittyhawk Cora, which also takes advantage of carbon fiber in its airframe. Kittyhawk is majorly backed by Larry Page, and is currently working with Air New Zealand
However, carbon fiber is expensive and difficult to fabricate. The process includes laying up resin-soaked carbon-fiber sheets in molds, trimming the pieces after they’ve cured in an oven, and then bonding components together. This process can take many hours and requires complex equipment. This may not mean much for aircraft like the Airbus A350 XWB and the Boeing 787 Dreamliner which are produced in relatively low volumes, but the demand for urban air taxis may be for many thousands of vehicles.
A visualization of Morgan Stanley’s prediction for the future of urban aviation.
Companies from big to small recognize this problem and are trying to address it. According to Scott Drennan (vice president of innovation at Bell) including manufacturing teams in the design process is a critical component of success with composites. If the aircraft is not designed with consideration to whether or not it can be feasibly built, a great deal of time and energy is wasted rethinking tooling.
“You’re going to find around the industry some well-funded eVTOL companies that will try to do everything from beginning to end—engineering, analysis, production, and then just hand off specific component plans to a manufacturer. That’s destined for failure because manufacturability doesn’t get designed into the aircraft.” -Kyle Clark of Beta Technologies.
There are a number of emerging companies that employ dedicated carbon fiber fabrication processed. Among these are Game Composites, founded by Stuart Walton, which builds and sells light sports aircraft with using a myriad of carbon fiber parts. Also mentionable is recently founded Elevated Materials, which upcycles carbon fiber from the space industry, as well as North Carolina-based Blue Force Technologies, which has partnered with Beta Technologies.
The ‘Gamebird’ by Game Composites, which specializes in the use of carbon fiber in its manufacturing.
Why it’s important: As the VTOL industry grows and demand for carbon fiber continues to increase, the process for mass producing these composites must evolve. While producing carbon fiber may currently be expensive and time-consuming, companies focused on making the production process more efficient are already emerging. Carbon fiber is a hurdle for the mass-production of air taxis, but also presents the opportunity for yet another innovative practice in an innovative industry.
The Skyworks Global VertiJet™
05 February 2019 ||
3
min read
Skyworks Global- A company that’s specialized in ‘gyroplanes’ for over twenty years-is producing a powerful VTOL business aircraft. With the Skyworks Global Heliplane ready to manufacture, and the HAWK-5 already in the air, the company is well set as a powerful player in the VTOL aircraft space. The Skyworks Global Verti-Jet is a business conversion of existing technology used in the...
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The Skyworks Global VertiJet™
05 February 2019 ||
3
min read
Skyworks Global- A company that’s specialized in ‘gyroplanes’ for over twenty years-is producing a powerful VTOL business aircraft. With the Skyworks Global Heliplane ready to manufacture, and the HAWK-5 already in the air, the company is well set as a powerful player in the VTOL aircraft space.
The Skyworks Global Verti-Jet is a business conversion of existing technology used in the company’s ‘Heliplane’. The Helipane (featured below) is currently being marketed towards the U.S Marines. According to Skyworks Global’s brochure for the Heliplane, the aircraft can reach speeds of up to 400mph and has a range of 1,000 miles. It flies a combination of slowed-rotor compound lift technology (similar to the Carter Copter), a fixed-wing for the lift in horizontal flight, and turbofan or turboprop engines for propulsion.
Above: The Skyworks ‘Heliplane’ which is currently being marketed to the U.S Marines. Top speed is 400mph with a range of 1,000 miles.
According to Skyworks Global, the company’s motivation for building gyroplanes comes from the fact that they are both versatile and economical, as well as “unconstrained by the physics imposed speed, range, and payload limitations of a helicopter”. The company has been working on gyroplanes for over twenty years, starting with the Hawk 4, which flew at the Salt-Lake City Olympics in 2002.
Above: The Skyworks ‘Hawk 4’ which flew at the Salt Lake City Olympics in 2002.
Skyworks has also demonstrated an interest in and awareness of the upcoming air-taxi market. It’s ‘Scouthawk’ aircraft, marketed for the military, border patrol, law enforcement, rescue, urban mobility, and more, was featured in a recent Skyworks Global concept video for air taxi use:
Why it’s important: While the Skyworks Verti-Jet is not an electric VTOL, it has a very strong use case for business travel between cities, much like the Transcend Air Vy 400 or the XTI Tri-Fan 600. With a depth of experience in gyroscope flight technology, and a potential air taxi in the ScoutHawk, the company is well positioned to provide vehicles for the urban air mobility space.
EASA’s Approach to Urban Aircraft Certification
04 February 2019 ||
3
min read
The European Aviation Safety Agency has released proposed certification guidelines for Vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft that intends to accommodate the ever-growing number of new aircraft that are being designed and developed worldwide. In a memo sent out last October, EASA announced their proposed “Special Condition” VTOL certification guidelines. This document contains a framework for the certification of light...
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EASA’s Approach to Urban Aircraft Certification
04 February 2019 ||
3
min read
The European Aviation Safety Agency has released proposed certification guidelines for Vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft that intends to accommodate the ever-growing number of new aircraft that are being designed and developed worldwide.
In a memo sent out last October, EASA announced their proposed “Special Condition” VTOL certification guidelines. This document contains a framework for the certification of light electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, and is a result of repeated requests to EASA for certification frameworks that more directly apply to the Urban Air Mobility industry. From the special condition notice itself:
“The Agency has received a number of requests for the type certification of vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft, which differ from conventional rotorcraft or fixed-wing aircraft. In the absence of certification specifications for the type certification of this type of product, a complete set of dedicated technical specifications in the form of a special condition for VTOL aircraft has been developed. This special condition addresses the unique characteristics of these products and prescribes airworthiness standards for the issuance of the type certificate, and changes to this type certificate, for a person carrying VTOL aircraft in the small category, with lift/thrust units used to generate powered lift and control.” // EASA
This type certification approach creates a new set of guidelines for manufacturers in the urban aviation category, and also presents a different attitude in certification regiment when compared to agencies such as the FAA have championed. The FAA advocates usage of CFR Part 23, which was updated in late 2017 to reflect a more comprehensive path toward certification of aircraft carrying less than 19 passengers and weighing less than 19,000 lbs.
EASA is competing with the FAA as a leader in certification guidelines for Urban Aircraft.
Why it’s important: EASA has now firmed their plan to utilize specific certification guidelines for VTOL aircraft in the coming years, differing in stance from other regulatory bodies such as the FAA, which has advocated for usage of Part 23 certification of VTOL aircraft. This announcement may cause OEM’s in the UAM space to evaluate which regulatory path is best suited for their specific case. One question that has not yet been answered is how the two agencies intend to honor one another’s certification guidelines (as is currently the case with many large scale commercial certification programs), also known as equivalent certification credit.
Imaginactive Onyx
04 February 2019 ||
< 1
min read
Quick Summary
Designed by Charles Champagne and Jorge Ciprian of Imaginactive, the Onyx has six rotors: four in the front and two in the back. Each rotor set-up has one propeller on each side, making for a total of twelve rotors on the Onyx. Despite its compact SUV size, the Onyx can comfortably fit two passengers and is designed to fit in a standard parking space.
Imaginactive was founded in 2013 by Charles Bombardier. It is structured as a non-profit organization and it is based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Charles Bombardier
Onyx
Stage of Development
Preliminary Design
Prototype Build
Flight Testing
Certification
Commercially Operating
Technical Details
Company Name: Imaginactive
Headquarters: Monteal, Quebec, Canada.
Imaginactive CEO: Charles Bombardier
Product Name: Onyx
Type of Machine: Compact wingless eVTOL
Power: All-electric, with interchangeable battery packs for all-day urban transportation.
Capacity: Designed for two passengers.
Propulsion: Six pairs of contra-rotating props.
Our Take on Onyx
Although there still exists major regulatory barriers to employing a craft like the Onyx, companies like Uber, Boeing, and more are already working with government entities in multiple countries to set standards and rules for these aircraft. Particularly, NASA has recently set up the Urban Air Mobility Grand Challenge series, the first event of which will take place in 2020 and will give companies the opportunity to exhibit the airworthiness of their aircraft and begin laying the benchmarks for regulatory law. The unique versatility of its design to be compatible with typical automobile parking spots does perhaps enhance Onyx's integrability in the commuter lifestyle and requires minimal infrastructure development compared to other eVTOLs. While there has been no news yet from Imaginactive about whether the Onyx will be brought into the prototyping stage, the spread of this kind of design thinking shows the continuing proliferation of the world’s focus on eVTOL transportation.
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