Category: Vehicles/Manufactures

Revealed at the Paris Airshow, the Workhorse Group’s SureFly personal VTOL offers simple and safe flying for a pilot and one passenger. The vehicle looks like a helicopter and uses four propeller arms with two fixed contra-rotating propellers each arm. It is powered by a gas combustion engine with lithium-ion batteries to reduce the need to recharge but to have a backup in case of engine failure. The controls use a simple joystick; since the vehicle is classified as a light-sport aircraft, it only takes 20 hours of pilot training to fly. The company hopes to use the SureFly in short taxi rides (up to 70 miles) with a targeted price of less than $200,000.

Related Links:

• FlyingMag Article: http://www.flyingmag.com/workhorse-unveils-surefly-personal-vtol-in-paris#page-5

Flying car manufacturers are taking interesting approaches to propulsion technology to solve the problem of personal aviation. Neva Aerospace’s AirQuadOne and DeLorean Aerospace’s DR-7 are two examples of such vehicles.

Neva Aerospace AirQuadOne:

The AirQuadOne uses 20 ducted fans to provide distributed thrust for vertical flight of a single passenger. Fore and aft pairs of large fans and two rows of four small fans are fixed and provide vertical lift. Four pairs of medium-size fans can tilt to also provide thrust for forward flight. The ducted fans have greater redundancy but are consequently more resilient to engine failures.

DeLorean Aerospace’s DR-7:

The DR-7 has a 20-foot wingspan that can fold to fit in a garage. The aircraft has two ducted fans mounted fore and aft on the fuselage in a push/pull configuration. VTOL engineers are concerned the ducts can generate sufficient moments to provide roll control in hover. The company also needs to consider what happens if fans are blocked during forward flight or lost completely. The DR-7 has a target price of $250,000-$300,000 with max speeds of up to 240-300mph.

Related Links:

• Aviation Week Article: http://aviationweek.com/technology/unconventional-designs-vie-personal-evtol-success

March 2017 || 1 min read

The Kitty Hawk Flyer is an all-electric aircraft backed by Google founder Larry Page. It is designed to fly over water with a range of 50 miles or 20 minutes of flight time. It doesn’t require a pilot’s license and takes minutes to learn how to fly. The vehicle will be available for purchase at the end of 2017.

22 June 2017 || 1 min read

AeroMobil presented its $1.6 million flying car at the Paris Air Show last week. The 26-foot wings and propeller fold into the body when on the road. Consumer sales begin in 2020.

Vehicle Details

• Max Range: 465 miles
• Max Speed: 100 mph
• Price: $1.6 million

Related Links:

• CNet Article: https://www.cnet.com/news/flying-car-aeromobil/

In March of 2017, Airbus unveiled a unique modular concept for a future urban transportation vehicle. This vehicle is able to act as both a car and a VTOL. They have appropriately dubbed this creation the “Pop.up” system. Airbus envisions that this modular idea of transportation will best enable the most efficient on-demand transportation network possible. Other designs and companies competing for a place in the sky include the Airbus Vahana, The Lillium, Joby S2, the E-hang, and more.

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