Results for: terrafugia

Commaris, a brand of Terrafugia, Inc. delivering unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for commercial operations, announced its first dealer partnership with American drone provider, Homeland Surveillance & Electronics, LLC (HSE-UAV). This partnership allows HSE-UAV to sell Commaris’ flagship long-range drone, the SEEKER, for commercial use.

Established in 2009, HSE-UAV is a veteran owned, full-service UAV drone provider to a variety of customers including the U.S. Air Force, USDA, NFL, DuPont and more. HSE-UAV provides complete unmanned solutions with experts in FAA processing, industry-leading Drone training, financing and Drone Protection Plans.

Related: Almost exactly one year ago, Terrafugia’s Transition prototype received its light sport category (S-LSA) certification from the FAA, marking a major step towards entry to service.

“HSE-UAV only sells products we believe in; products that are cutting-edge, wildly reliable and deliver breakthrough results in our customers’ productivity… we’re thrilled to work with Commaris and we love the SEEKER because it checks all of those boxes!” said Bryan Sanders, President of HSE-UAV. “With customers in the energy, mapping, agriculture, and security industries, we couldn’t have asked for a better product than the Seeker.”

The Seeker’s electric, fixed-wing/VTOL hybrid aircraft is designed to perform a wide variety of commercial inspection operations including security and surveillance, inspections, surveying and mapping, and more. It has a long-endurance capability, with up to three or more hours of flight time without a battery change, and it supports multiple payload configurations of up to 10 pounds at a top speed of over 60 mph.

“HSE-UAV is committed to offering products with a focus on safety, reliability and ease of use. The fact they want to offer the SEEKER to customers demonstrates the trust they have in our product being an innovative and effective UAV benefitting a wide range of industries,” said Kevin Colburn, President of Terrafugia and Commaris. “This is not only an excellent opportunity to expand the impact of the SEEKER, but it is also a big step forward for our brand. HSE-UAV’s resources and expertise go well beyond selling drones, and partnerships like these are a crucial component in propelling the UAV industry forward.”

Why it’s important: Terrafugia has expanded its portfolio and fleet of vehicles with the addition of the SEEKER. The company now touts increased diversity in its target markets as a provider of both personal and commercial aerial mobility aircraft with the Transition and Seeker, respectively. Additionally, revenue from HSE’s sales of the SEEKER will be instrumental to meet the funding demands of further development for Terrafugia’s vehicles.

Credit // Commaris press release

Terrafugia’s Transition prototype has received light sport category (S-LSA) certification from the FAA, marking a major step towards entry to service. The Transition is a 2-seater flyer car which can be operated as a street legal vehicle that transitions to flight. The prototype features a Rotax 912iS 100HP 4 cylinder engine with hybrid-electric platform for drive mode. In flight, Transition can reach speeds up to 100 mph and a total range of 400 miles.

As of this writing, Terrafugia has prioritized certification of a flight-only model, with certification for road operations coming later this year or next.

“We chose to finalize and certify the flight side first because, in the early days of Terrafugia, some potential customers expressed interest in a flight-only version,” said Fred Bedard, Terrafugia’s manager of business development. “They wanted something that could fit in their garage that contained many of the benefits of Terrafugia bringing automotive-style safety into a general aviation vehicle, but they did not necessarily need the vehicle to be able to drive on public roads. Thus, we reasoned that the ability to produce a few intermediate products along the way to a full fly-and-drive version would also help our business mature. Unsurprisingly, no one expressed interest in a vehicle with wings that could not fly, so finalizing the ground drive side first did not make any sense.”

Transition’s flight only model is capable of folding its wings and can fit in the space of a single-car garage. The vehicle also offers advanced safety features including a parachute and a rigid carbon fiber safety cage.

In late 2017, Geely acquired Terrafugia as it eyed an entry into the aviation space, and the company became a member of the Geely Technology Group which also includes sister companies Volvo Cars, Lotus Cars, and CEVT. Terrafugia’s US headquarters has remained in Woburn, Massachusetts.

Why it matters: The certification of Terrafugia’s Transition model marks a critical program milestone towards making aerial mobility a reality. In receiving FAA LSA category certification, Terrafugia has been able to prove the reliability and safety of its Transition product. The company plans to continue moving towards entry to service with first deliveries next year.

The Zhejiang Geely Holding Group recently unveiled the prototype design of the Terrafugia TF-2A eVTOL aircraft, and announced that they have already begun flight tests as well. The newer design is a clear upgrade over the previous demonstrator that was revealed in December 2019. 

Based on the aesthetics of a tiger shark, the TF-2A features a large upper wing, H-shaped tail, eight lift propellers for vertical takeoff or landing (VTOL) as well as one rear propeller for horizontal flight. According to Geely, the design should make certification easier to obtain as opposed to the more common tilt-rotor designs in the industry. For example, the New Hampshire Senate recently motioned to pass a number of bills, one of which pertained to the topic of aerial mobility. HB-1517, “An Act Relative to Roadable Aircraft,” adds the words “roadable aircraft” to existing laws for vehicles concerning things like inspections and crashes, requiring the roadable aircraft to be “required to take off and land from a suitable airstrip and shall be prohibited from taking off and landing from any public roadway, unless under conditions of an emergency”. Currently, only Terrafugia’s TF-2A and PAL-V’s eVTOL meet these standards.

Geely also announced that flight testing has already begun for this newest prototype version of the TF-2A, by testing a metal frame bed with a take-off weight of 1,320 lb (600 kg) while using only four lift propellers. By doing so, the engineers were able to verify the aircraft’s ability of vertical take-offs and landings and hovering, dynamic response, stability, functional coordination, and preliminary safety and reliability of each system.

Geely intends for the final version of the TF-2A to be able to have a maximum take-off weight of 2,645 lb (1,200 kg) and a payload of up to 440 lb (200 kg), as well as a maximum range of 62 miles (100 km), max cruising speed of 110 mph (180 kph), and a service ceiling altitude of 9840 ft (3000 m).  

According to Geely, the company plans to launch the full-scale TF-2A prototype “in the near future”.

Below is a flight of Geely’s latest physical prototype from last January: 

Why it’s important: Following the acquisition of Terrafugia by Geely in 2017, the company has made several strides towards the development of the aerial mobility industry. With work of the TF-2A beginning just last year, we expect to see many more innovative developments from Terrafugia and Geely, as well as a commercial release within the next decade. 

Source // electrive

On the left is the Terrafugia Transition. On the right is the Pal-V Liberty. These are the first two flying cars to reach the market.

Many VTOLs classify as ‘flying cars’ because they are personal-sized point to point vehicles that use the skies as their medium of travel. However, the Pal-V Liberty and the Terrafugia Transition can drive on the road as well as fly through the air.

Terrafugia, founded by graduates of MIT, has been working on the Transition for over a decade. The Transition’s wings fold to become as flush as possible with the body when the car is on the ground, and unfold for flight. Based in New England, Terrafugia was purchased by Volvo’s Chinese parent company, Geely, in 2017.

Terrafugia has begun taking pre-orders for the Transition, with a price around $300,000. The Transition’s main features include the ability to switch from drive mode to flight mode in under one minute, a range of about 400 miles, and a flight top speed of 100mph. On the ground, the Transition is powered by a hybrid engine with speeds also up to 100mph.

The Dutch company Pal-V’s ‘Liberty; is designed more like a personal helicopter. The Pal-V Liberty has three wheels, and long helicopter blades that fold into its body for its drive mode.

The base model of the Liberty is priced at €299,000, but €499,000 for the ‘Pioneer’ edition, which will be delivered first and will include all the available customizable options. Pal-V started taking pre-orders last month. Similar to Tesla, it is currently taking these orders through a queue reservation system, which requires a minimum $2,500 down payment. The Liberty has a top airspeed of 112mph, and top ground speed 100mph and a 100 gallon fuel tank, which is good for about four hours of flight time.

Both companies will begin delivering to customers in 2019.

Why It’s Important: While both of these vehicles are mainly recreational, they represent great steps for the era of personal aerial transportation. Not only will both these vehicles promote the acceptance of personal aircraft, they have also already struggled with many of the certification obstacles that air taxi VTOLs are currently experiencing.

ZeroAvia and Natilus have announced a strategic partnership to jointly develop hydrogen-electric engines for the Natilus Kona blended-wing-body (BWB) cargo aircraft. ZeroAvia’s ZA600 will be the sole hydrogen-electric propulsion source offered for the novel Kona short-haul feeder UAV, with the partnership focused on delivering zero-emission and lower cost operations.

Natilus recently validated the performance of the BWB design with flight testing of a quarter-scale Kona prototype aircraft, following three years of extensive wind-tunnel testing, while ZeroAvia has now conducted eight test flights of its prototype ZA600, 600kW engine in a 19-seat testbed aircraft.

ZeroAvia has already commenced flight testing of a 600kW prototype hydrogen-electric engine, which supports the development and certification of two initial engine classes: a 300-mile range in 9–19 seat aircraft by 2025, and up to 700-mile range in 40–80 seat aircraft by 2027. Based in the US and the UK, ZeroAvia has already secured experimental certificates for three prototype aircraft from the CAA and FAA.

In support of this effort, ZeroAvia also recently announced the creation of a hydrogen production facility at Birmingham Airport (BHX), featuring an on-site hydrogen production aircraft refueling facility, with the potential for multi-modal applications.  

Subject to funding, planning, and regulatory permissions being secured, the ambition would be to use the pioneering plant to support early flight demonstrations, and also refuel road vehicles, potentially including local buses. In advance of this, BHX has commenced talks with a major automotive company about trialing hydrogen buses and cars on its airfield.  

Why it’s important: The Natilus Kona, with its novel BWB design, offers increased volume for hydrogen storage, potentially transforming the air cargo delivery industry to one with low-cost, low carbon emissions, while also extending flight range. The partnership with ZeroAvia will leverage their expertise in hydrogen-electric powertrain technology with Natilus’ unique design to potentially create a scalable, long-range, and zero-emission air cargo delivery solution for the entire industry.

Related:

• Alaska Airlines Partners with ZeroAvia to Develop the World’s Largest Zero-Emission Aircraft
• ZeroAvia Achieves ‘Record-Breaking’ Hydrogen Fuel Cell Performance

Eve Air Mobility (“Eve”) (NYSE: EVEX, EVEXW), a leading player in the electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) industry, has made significant strides in its testing phase as it moves closer to achieving key program milestones. Eve’s commitment to a building-blocks approach helps ensure the continuous enhancement of its technology and eVTOL aircraft, allowing for the delivery of a highly effective product to the market.

Eve Air Mobility, a spinoff from EmbraerX, is creating a unique eVTOL aircraft focused on efficiency, safety, low-noise profiles, and ultimately on making short-distance air travel more acccessible.

Eve recently completed propeller tests on its propeller rig in Brazil, focusing on measuring aerodynamic performance and sound properties for modeling and development purposes. The configuration and characteristics of propeller blades, such as torsion, shape, and quantity, are crucial in defining the vibration, load, and sound profile of the eVTOL. Additionally, they impact the energy requirements of the aircraft. By testing multiple models, Eve’s engineers are striving to enhance efficiency, reduce sound footprint, and lower operating costs.

Above: Eve truck testing rig, used for testing sound profiles and performance

In another significant development, Eve has commenced testing its vertical lift rotors on a specially designed truck-mounted platform. This mobile testbed aims to evaluate the performance of the rotors during the transition phase of flight. Eve’s engineering team is actively gathering data on the aerodynamic characteristics of the rotors in forward flight. The eVTOL by Eve employs a lift and cruise configuration, utilizing dedicated rotors for vertical flight and fixed wings for cruising. This configuration prioritizes safety, efficiency, reliability, and certifiability while simultaneously reducing operational costs and additional maintenance and repair expenses.

Alice Altissimo, the Vice President of Program Management and Operation at Eve, expressed satisfaction with the company’s program development activities thus far. Altissimo stated, “We are very pleased with our program development activities to date and making very good progress as we move toward the selection of primary suppliers and finalize the definition of our aircraft systems architecture. We continue to invest, and our team is working hard with the goal of developing a mature aircraft for certification and entry into service in 2026.”

Anticipating progress in the near future, Eve expects to finalize the selection of primary equipment suppliers in the first half of 2023. Subsequently, the company plans to commence the assembly of its first full-scale eVTOL prototype in the second half of 2023, followed by an extensive test campaign in 2024. Eve’s eVTOL is scheduled to achieve certification and enter service by 2026.

Collaborating with various partners, Eve is dedicated to accelerating the Urban Air Mobility ecosystem. Benefiting from a start-up mindset and backed by Embraer S.A.’s over 50-year history of aerospace expertise, Eve is taking a holistic approach to advancing the UAM ecosystem. Alongside its advanced eVTOL project, Eve provides a comprehensive global services and support network, as well as a unique air traffic management solution.

Why it’s important: By continuously enhancing its eVTOL technology through rigorous testing and collaborating with key partners, Eve is bringing its product closer to certification and commercialization. These developments signify the Eve’s commitment creating an eVTOL aircraft that can be certified in all parts of the world, and can be used to create reliable and versatile aerial mobility networks. By bringing its immense wealth of expertise to this new industry, Embraer’s Eve has immense potential to create an advanced and high-functioning aircraft, as well as the networks and software systems to help operate it.

Source // sUAS News, AAM international

Related:

• Kenya Airways to Purchase 40 Embraer EVE eVTOL Aircraft (June 2022)
• Ascent Partners with Embraer for 100 Eve eVTOLs (August 2021)
• FlyBIS to Purchase 40 eVTOLs from Eve (December 2022)
• EVE, Embraer-backed eVTOL startup, now trading on NYSE (July 2022)