Category: Vehicles/Manufactures

At this year’s EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, Airbus highlighted its eVTOL tilt-wing demonstrator, the Vahana Alpha Two. While the Vahana shows great promise, Airbus rep. Amanda Simpson outlines some of UAM’s Challenges.

Featuring eight 45-kW electric motors and a slightly reworked design, the sleek single-seater was on display at the Airbus booth in Oshkosh. The eVTOL has been in the works for a while, under Airbus’ Silicon Valley based division, A^3. Amanda Simpson, Airbus America’s Vice President for Research and Technology, was present at Oshkosh and weighed in on some of the issues that any UAM ventures would bring.

The all-electric eVTOL was designed with urban air mobility in mind, but potential obstacles to market include battery life and charging speeds. Said Simpson: “There’s only so much energy you can pump into these things over a given period of time. You have to be able to recharge these vehicles when they land. Does that mean swapping out batteries or plugging it in? Where is that energy coming from? How many times can you recharge a battery before you can’t get the maximum utilization out of it? It’s very easy to measure fuel left in a tank, not so much to determine how many megawatt-hours are left in your battery.”

Another well-noted issue by Airbus is safety. While some of the companies entering the UAM market are established aircraft builders, many are still learning the craft. Simpson likens current times to aviation’s Golden Age. “Here at Oshkosh, in part, we celebrate the Golden Age of aviation. However, when you look back at that age, we killed a lot of people. But there was such enthusiasm that it continued, and the fallout was that it took a long time before people were willing to get on airplanes as part of a scheduled service.”

While the Vahana was created to answer questions, there are still some that remain according to Simpson. “The question is how to demonstrate the capabilities of the aircraft and how do we work with EASA or the FAA to develop regulations to govern these? How do you work with the cities and the urban infrastructure to provide landing places? How do you develop an app for your phone that will allow you to call and schedule service and the whole infrastructure behind that?”

The answer to these questions will likely determine the direction that UAM takes in the next decade.

Why it’s important: UAM aircraft, including any future models that Airbus incorporates into their fleet, will most likely begin as hybrids. While demonstrators such as the Vahana Alpha Two can run purely on electricity in practice, the limitations in battery technology today are simply too high for the commercial and economic demands that would be brought by a UAM market. How these hurdles are approached by competitors in the UAM market will determine what the transportation industry will look like in the next decade.

Sources // EAA AirVenture, AINonline

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TECNALIA, a multi-faceted technology firm based in Spain, has developed a 16-rotor prototype air taxi capable of flying up to 15 kilometers. The company predicts this technology could be in commercial use within five years.

TECNALIA’S mission is to “transform technology into GDP.” It has currently made six of its new eVTOL air taxi prototype, which is designed to autonomously carry people and cargo short distances across major cities. According to TECNALIA, even a 15 kilometer range will be able to meet urban transport requirements in 85% of the world’s major cities.

The new eVTOL aircraft is small, but can carry up to 150 kilograms, and is easily scalable to larger sizes and capacities. It has a cruise speed of 90km/h, a top speed of 190km/h, and a cruise altitude between 100 and 300 meters. The cabin measures 1.8 meters by 2 meters with a door and window.

Interestingly, the eVTOL design features four sets of four rotors each, giving the aircraft the look of having a traditional quadcopter drone at the end of each of its rotor arms. According to TECNALIA, each of the ‘drone’ rotor sets is capable of operating independently, but in co-ordination, allowing the eVTOL to maintain its orientation now matter what speed it flies. This will give passengers the sense that they are riding in a bus or car rather than having to tilt as they move forward.

TECHALIA has been investing in cutting edge technology for many years in Spain including clean energy, transportation, cryptocurrency, and even health and lab services. The TECNALIA Research & Innovation is the first privately funded applied research & technology organization in Spain. Learn more about TECNALIA’s mission, offerings, and eVTOL on its website, and watch the full video of a test flight below:

Why its important: As more and more eVTOL designs are emerging around the world, many high-impact companies like TECNALIA are starting to invest in eVTOL technology. Although the TECNALIA eVTOL is not very large, its design represents a unique and thoughtful approach. With the growth of the air taxi industry, TECNALIA is taking a leading step forward in the Spanish market.

Sources // TECNALIA

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On Bastille Day, a national holiday and pride celebration in France, inventor Franky Zapata flew over crowds on the jet-powered ‘Flyboard Air’.

Franky Zapata, a flying enthusiast, has recently found success by starting a new business selling customizable hydro-powered flying kits for jet skis. Now, he has turned to making boards that are completely standalone, using a combination of turbines and electric engines to fly through the air at high speed.

At Bastille Day, a celebration of national pride for France, Zapata exhibited the capabilities of the Flyboard Air, posing as a ‘flying soldier’ to demonstrate the potential use for specialized military operations. While so far all of Zapata’s flying products have been recreational, the Flyboard Air offers a level of mobility which could be used for military, medical response, and industrial surveillance.

In attendance at the Bastille Day demonstration was French president Emmanuel Macron. According Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly, the French military is considering using the Flyboard for various uses, which may include assault operations. Watch the full demonstration flight in this video from a tweet by Macron:

The Flyboard Air is powered by a series of turbine jet engines, and is controlled by a combination of throttle and the human body itself. Previous challenges to designing such a compact personal aerial vehicle have included the storage of energy needed to sustain flight, the difficulty of aircraft control, and of course, safety issues. To address this, the Zapata team claims to have a redundant flight system through which the aircraft can still easily fly with only one engine, and can complete a safe auto-landing in the event of two engine losses.

According to the Zapata site, the Flyboard Air should be able to fly up to 120mph, reach heights of nearly 10,000 feet, and stay in the air for a maximum of 30 minutes.

Why it’s important: While the Flyboard Air may not be directly applicable in Urban Air Mobility in the near future, the engineering potential in its propulsion design has important implications for UAM. The Flyboard Air shows that even the lightest of aircraft can sustain powered flight, meaning a great deal for UAM engineering challenges.

Sources // CNN, Gizmodo, Emmanuel Macron on Twitter. 

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After recently signing an MoU, Honeywell and Vertical Aerospace have officially signed a partnership in which Honeywell will provide the fly by wire control systems for Vertical Aerospace aircraft.

Honeywell has had over 100 years in building and engineering technology products, and has had an Aerospace division as early as 1936. Recently, Honeywell has proved its ability to stay on the cutting edge of innovation by founding its own Urban Air Mobility department.

Since its inception, Urban Air Mobility at Honeywell has focused heavily on providing fly by wire technologies for UAM aircraft. These are essentially the flight controls (used in modern airplanes) that allow pilots to fly the aircraft through electronic commands rather than through direct manual control. In future UAM aircraft, fly by wire systems may enable completely autonomous flight.

Honeywell has made massive strides toward the future of Urban Air Mobility by also signing development agreements with Volocopter and Pipistrel (named as one of the Uber Elevate Network partners). Honeywell has collaborated with these companies for autonomous landing systems and more, as well as developing its own electric engine and compact fly-by-wire system specifically designed for UAM.

Vertical Aerospace, UK company which has been developing its eVTOL since 2016, recently flew a successful test flight which can be viewed here. The company envisions building an entire network for on-demand travel in the UK, and is currently working with EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency) to attain Type Certification for the next version of its aircraft. The Vertical Aerospace team consists of over 40 world-class engineers and technical experts formerly from companies like Boeing, Rolls-Royce and GE.

Said Vertical Aerospace COO Michael Cervenka in regards to the signed partnership:
“I’m delighted that Vertical is leading the way in signing this important contract with Honeywell. This is the culmination of a thorough evaluation, during which we have been impressed with Honeywell’s product offering and technical capabilities.”

Why it’s important: The agreement with Vertical Aerospace makes official one of Honeywell’s major UAM partnerships. In addition to Vertical, Honeywell is also working with Pipistrel and Volocopter, two other important players in the UAM market. By signing with Vertical Aerospace, Honeywell reinforces its commitment to a UAM future, and further establishes itself as an expert provider in essential UAM technology.

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The Alauda Airspeeder is a single seater recreational eVTOL that can fly at speeds up to 124mph. On July 4th, an unmanned prototype of the speeder took to the skies at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in Sussex, UK. Watch the Alauda video here.

The vision of start-up Alauda Racing is to build “a world-beating flying sports car for sale to the public'”. Founded by Asutralia by entrepreneur Matt Pearson, the company has been making steady progress since 2018, and is backed by  financial firm Equals, which sees the Airspeeder as the next evolution of traditional motorsport racing.

The Alauda Airspeeder has a top speed of 124mph, using a 500kw battery pack that currently still needs recharging every 15 minutes. Alauda envisions that air races, the first of which are tentatively scheduled for 2020, will take place about 4 meters above the ground. The airspeeder flies on a four sets of two 32-inch rotors, much like the Ehang 184 or the Workhorse Surefly.

Although Alauda experienced some technical difficulties with the Airspeeder at Goodwood, the Alauda team still plans on debuting races in 2020. Said Pearson, “with early technology, these things happen.” The Alauda team explained that the error, which caused the prototype to briefly lose control, would have been impossible in a manned aircraft.

Why it’s important: Alauda’s exciting application of eVTOL technology shows the many opportunities for the eVTOL industry. Although the Alauda team experienced a remote piloting error at is demonstration, the company is still making forward progress. The advent of eVTOL racing, as pursued by other companies like Assen Aero, has the potential to help eVTOLs attain societal acceptance and push performance boundaries to fully understand the physics and mechanics.

John Botti, former CTO of Airbus, has taken the next step forward in developing his hybrid electric airplane. The test aircraft will fly on full hybrid-electric propulsion by the end of the year.

Voltaero, founded by former CTO of Airbus John Botti, is making the Casio hybrid electric aircraft (mockup seen above). The company has been developing the Cassio since its founding in 2018, and plans on beginning to deliver to customers by 2022.

The Cassio comes in multiple configurations ranging from four to nine seats and has a range between 200 and 600km depending on how much the combustion engine is used. According to Voltaero CEO John Botti, “The pilot will be able to determine the hybrid strategy based on the mission”. The aircraft’s computer will reccomennd a power configuration, but the pilot will be able to manually adjust the balance between the electric engine and the combustion engine. This gives the pilot full control over what kind flight the aircraft will use.

Voltaero has recently entered its development phase plan, and is currently on its second version of the Cassio. Most recently, the company built a wingless ground unit used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the propulsion design (seen above). Electric motors are now being installed in the wing nacelles of version 2.1, which will begin flight testing shortly. The latest test aircraft uses a Cessna 337 Skymaster as a testbed for the propulsion system, but later, in phase two, Voltaero will develop multiple prototype iterations to matching standards in order to certify the Cassio under European CS23 regulations.  Read the full Cassio phase development plan here.

Why it’s important: Voltaero is making major steps forward for hybrid electric propulsion systems. As urban air mobility aircraft begin to emerge, each will require different missions, meaning that some longer distance trips may require hybrid propulsion. Although other companies have also been developing hybrid flight systems, Voltaero is making huge real-world developments for the hybrid electric flight industry. Watch the full TransportUP podcast with Voltaero’s Jean Botti here.

Sources // Voltaero, Aviation Week