The 2-seat XP2 eVTOL has entered the manufacturing phase

NeoXcraft, the eVTOL aircraft designed and developed by UK-Vehicle Redesign, has entered the manufacturing phase with a target first flight date in 2020. Vehicle Redesign in based in Derby, UK and is building multiple proof of concept aircraft (half and quarter scale models) to validate the expected performance of the company’s designs.

At Farnborough’s Global Urban Air Summit on September 4th, Michael Smith (co-Founder of Vehicle Redesign) spoke to the companies progress and identified an entry to service date sometime within the next three years, potentially as early as 2022. Vehicle Redesign focused on utilizing advanced materials (graphene carbon fiber according to Smith) that, when combined with eight 30kW electric drive brushless motors (EDBM’s) provides for ample power to carry the aircraft over a suitable distance.

The XP2 could transport VVIP clients from vertiports on buildings in urban centers or from yachts such as these. Source // Vehicle Redesign

According to Vehicle Redesign, the vehicle is expected to fly for 50 minutes at a top speed of 135knots, equating to a range of 125nm accounting for reserves. Vehicle Redesign has obtained funding from a German family and a Japanese consortium, along with a £500,000 investment from private investors, will be seeking Series B funding sometime in 2020, and has provisionally listed its air taxi for $2.4 million USD. A ballistic recovery parachute system, similar to BRS Aerospace’s designs, will most likely be employed on the aircraft to enhance safety.

Related: Flying Car Parachutes? BRS Aerospace is Working on It

Initially, the XP2 would be used for VVIP transport operations in select global locales, and could possibly expand beyond just VVIP transport operations to larger scale commercial implementation depending on the progress of development and the realization of the market.

XP2’s development in the European market will be an exciting progress map to follow, as EASA’s special conditions for certification of eVTOL aircraft will guide certification differently than the process that many North American startups and large OEM’s will adhere to on their respective paths to entry into service.

Why it’s important: Manufacturing of the XP2 marks an important milestone for Vehicle Redesign, as the company continue to solidify their positioning within the UAM industry as a serious contender with a substantial amount of interest from private clients. However, XP2’s current marketing brand is targeted largely towards VVIP customers, and less toward general commercial operations, which is a deviation from many other companies developing eVTOL aircraft that may prove to be substantial value added for Vehicle Redesign.

Source // FlightGlobal

With many decades of experience in the aerospace industry, BAE Systems announced that they are preparing to offer energy management, avionics and power conversion systems that are scalable and adaptable for aircraft ranging from regional jets to small urban air mobility (UAM) aircraft. 

BAE Systems Regional Aircraft – J31 Air to Air. Photo credit: BAE Systems

BAE Systems plans to offer both fully electric and hybrid electric systems. According to Yesh Premkumar, BAE System’s Business Development/Strategy Lead for Aircraft Electrification, “I think there is merit to both, and as a product supplier, we’re positioning ourselves to be able to play in both as demand and market trends change.”

Additionally, BAE Systems is working in coordination with other companies working in the UAM industry, including Uber Elevate partners, although specifics have not been released. “What Uber and its partners are trying to do is push electric platforms, and we see energy management systems and fly-by-wire/integrated control systems are critical to both safety and successful operation of the platforms,” said Premkumar, “We’re aiming to deliver the most simplified version of a solution that meets the operational needs of the platform without compromising on cost, safety, and reliability.”

BAE Systems Regional Aircraft – RDO Repair in Hangar. Photo Credit: BAE Systems

BAE Systems intends to put out working prototypes by early 2021 for flight tests. According to Premkumar, what BAE Systems envisions in their prototypes is a control system similarly to that of traditional fly-by-wire systems — providing information from aircraft sensors to a flight controller, who sends commands to the surfaces and engine or engine controller — but more compact and integrated, similar to the FBW systems that Honeywell is currently developing. “We believe this will help reduce the number of boxes, improve reliability and economics of the control system.” BAE Systems are also discussing opportunities in the avionics and energy management industries with electric jet startup Wright Electric, according to Premkumar. 

BAE Systems Regional Aircraft – RJ85. Photo Credit: BAE Systems

Why it’s important: BAE Systems plan to offer their products on the market by the mid-2020s, matching the timing of many aerospace companies and startups to begin flight operations in the UAM industry, which would be critical for commercial success. These new

Sources // Aviation Today

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Successful integration of piloted air taxi into Air Traffic Management system

Volocopter has successfully performed the first flight of an Air Taxi at an International Airport (Helsinki) integrated into both Air Traffic Management (ATM) and Unmanned Aircraft System Traffic Management (UTM) systems.

This demonstration is the final component of the Gulf of Finland (GOF) u-space project showing how ATM and UTM systems will enable Urban Air Mobility (UAM). The GOF space project is a portion of the larger Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR) Program. The GOF U-space flight trial demonstrated how ATM and UTM can act in combination to enable safe and efficient air taxi operation in urban environments, including airports.

Source // ANS Finland

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Elroy Air announced the successful completion of its first full-scale system flight test yesterday. The first flight of the 1215 lb prototype reached a height of 10 feet and hovered for 64 seconds before descending and landing safely.

According to Elroy’s Medium Article on the first flight, the test was completed at 9:14AM PST on August 14th, 2019 at McMillan Airfield at Camp Roberts, CA in partnership with the Naval Postgraduate School, and the aircraft was remotely piloted by the company’s lead test pilot.

“Today is an important step toward the future of logistics,” said David Merrill, CEO of Elroy Air. “Since the earliest days of powered flight people have wanted to use the skies for convenient, rapid cargo transport to anywhere. The airport-dependence of traditional manned air cargo options shows that air cargo still has great opportunity to evolve! Autonomous VTOL cargo systems will make the dream of ultra-responsive logistics possible, because they decouple air cargo from airports. These large cargo systems are about to become mainstream, and the Elroy Air team is leading the industry with our development of the Chaparral aerial cargo system.”

The Elroy Air Chaparral and Cargo Pod at McMillan Airfield, Camp Roberts, CA.

Elroy Air’s large cargo eVTOL system uses a hybrid-electric powertrain that enables long range deliveries. Additionally, the company emphasizes its cargo-handling automation for quick and safe loading and unloading of packages.

“The development is a response to a global pilot shortage and growing demand for more flexible and rapid logistics across all traffic and terrain scenarios on the ground. Autonomous air cargo transportation has the ability to improve the quality of life globally by increasing access to time-sensitive critical supplies,“ said Kofi Asante, Head of Strategy and Business Development.

“Developing a robust VTOL system at this scale of payload is a challenging feat that requires the right team and resources,” said Clint Cope, VP of Engineering at Elroy Air. “The set of flight-critical systems that all have to be working perfectly together for robust, repeatable performance is non-trivial. The Elroy Air team is a squad of experts who know exactly what it takes in their respective domains to build a world-class aerial cargo system. This flight is a huge milestone, because it validates what our team can do. We’ll celebrate this accomplishment with our investors and customers, then continue our work toward deployed systems.”

Elroy Air Cargo Pod, with Chaparral in the background.

Why it’s important: Elroy Air’s first flight of Chaparral is a great achievement for the company on its path towards certification of large-scale autonomous hybrid eVTOL’s for logistics applications. As is the approach of numbers of other eVTOL OEM’s, Elroy’s early adoption of hybrid electric powertrain solutions will most likely aid in bridging the gap between the battery technology of today and the targets for energy storage capabilities in the next 10-15 years.

Bell has just achieved the first autonomous flight of its Autonomous Pod Transport (APT) 70 aircraft, and will continue testing throughout the year.

The U.S. helicopter and tilt-rotor manufacturer has just shared footage of its cargo eVTOL drone completing a first of many fully autonomous flights. Bell will ramp up flight testing under an experimental type certificate at its facility near Fort Worth, Texas to eventually support missions such as package delivery, medical support, and disaster relief. The vehicle has key design features such as a modular design for rapid battery swap & recharging, and a payload pod that is attached via pylons to two wings, each fitted with electric-powered propellers.

The APT70 is a tail-sitting VTOL with load capacity up to 70lbs, and a top speed up to 100mph. It takes off vertically as does a drone, then rotates to horizontal flight in a bi-plane configuration using its built-in fixed wings. A near-final version of the APT70 will conduct another flight demonstration in 2020 through NASA’s Systems Integration and Operationalization partnership. Meanwhile, the company continues to develop its wider APT family of eVTOL aircraft to achieve varying payload and range capabilities.

Bell’s APT70 (left) and APT20 (right). // AIN Online

According to Bell, next year’s demonstration through the NASA partnership will simulate commercial missions in the U.S. National Airspace System and will include beyond visual line of sight operations. Through this collaboration, NASA and Bell hope to deliver new technologies for unmanned aerial systems including integrated Detect and Avoid (DAA) and Command and Control (C2). Bell is also working with Japanese logistics group Yamato to create an integrated package handling system with the APT 70, and strives to launch commercial operations by the early 2020s.

Related: Bell Flight Unveils Nexus Prototype at CES 2019

First flight for the Nexus passenger eVTOL is planned for 2020 and Bell hopes to achieve type certification in 2023. The aircraft design features a central wing, integrated landing skids, and six ducted tilt-rotor fans. It will carry four passengers on flights of up to around 150 miles and at speeds of up to 175 mph. Read more about the Bell Nexus’ technical specifications in the Hangar.

Why it’s important: Bell is expanding its aircraft profile in the urban air mobility industry and demonstrates time and resource investments in both the passenger and cargo sectors. Small-scale cargo transportation has been an area of interest for both the military as well as large online retailers such as Amazon, demonstrating a wide swath of applications for the APT 70 and the company’s future fleet of cargo eVTOLs.

Collins Aerospace announced their intentions to develop the world’s first 1MW electric aircraft motor. With a $50 million dollar investment towards an electric systems lab, named the “Grid”, in Illinois, Collins Aerospace looks to soon provide aircraft and eVTOL manufacturers with a practical and vastly more efficient electric drivetrain.

The Grid will be put to work on developing a working model for a fully electric aircraft motor capable of outputting 1MW. Based in Rockford, Illinois, the 25,000 square-foot facility is outfitted with 4 independent modular electric power systems that will be ready to go by 2021. Both Collins Aerospace and their holding company, United Technologies, have large expectations for this investment. According to Collins Aerospace CEO Kelly Ortberg, “Our internal UTC studies indicate that commercial electric and hybrid electric propulsion could reduce aircraft noise by up to 85 percent, can improve fuel consumption by up to 40 percent, can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 20 percent and reduce airline operating and maintenance costs by up to 20 percent.”

To develop an electric engine that would be able to rival the power output of a generator in a Boeing 787, Collins Aerospace will begin with Project 804. Project 804 is Collins Aerospace’s first project, to develop a hybrid-electric flight demonstrator. Project 804 will use a Bombardier Dash-8 with a 2MW hybrid-electric powertrain. According to Ortberg, “The goal of Project 804, developed by the company’s advanced projects group, is to re-engine and fly a regional turboprop aircraft powered by a 2 megawatt-class hybrid-electric propulsion system on a highly aggressive timeline. The advanced projects group combines the engineering expertise and experience of Collins Aerospace, Pratt & Whitney and UTC’s research center.”

More details on Project 804 can be found here

A render of the inside of the Grid

Why it’s important: Collins Aerospace will have a lot of work to do to create a practical, powerful electric drivetrain capable of meeting their goals. The electric motor will most likely need vast improvements in efficiency while maintaining practicality and safety standards. However, if this project does result with a working electric drivetrain capable of outputting 1MW, development and manufacturing off fully electric VTOLs as opposed to hybrid electric models for the UAM industry could happen within the next decade. 

Sources // Clean Technica

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