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Aerospace design company Aurora Flight Sciences, a subsidiary of The Boeing Company, recently entered a contract with DARPA to further advance the applications of active flow control methods as the primary means of aircraft design and flight path control, and to demonstrate the ability of this approach to maintain stability and control in flight.

Active flow control actuators, or effectors, as they are called, form the flow of air around aircraft’s surfaces which allow for controllability without moving parts, leading to increased efficiency and better integration. DARPA, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency that’s based in Arlington, Va., announced a contract worth $7.1 million last Friday in partnership with AFS to work on “Control of Revolutionary Aircraft with Novel Effectors”. The project is nicknamed CRANE.

These novel flow control methods that eliminate the classical control surfaces normally found on aircraft such as elevators, ailerons, rudders, and secondary devices such as spoilers and trim tabs allow for a new realm of possibility for military and civilian aircraft. While the likely direct application of these effectors will be for classified defense projects, other secondary use cases could include eVTOL aircraft and aerial mobility technologies. Some existing eVTOL designs have already adopted this methodology and use modulation of power levels between electric ducted fan motors to control flight path. The CRANES project could take this design approach a step further, and create the pathway for dynamic surfaces that can modulate shape to redirect flow and result in a completely passive design.

Aurora Flight Sciences has been working on design and development of an eVTOL prototype for longer than most newer eVTOL outfits, and was acquired in 2017 by Boeing. Since the acquisition, the company debuted the first flight of the AFS/Boeing Personal Air Vehicle (PAV) and has continued with their flight test campaign. While effectors will likely serve a larger benefit for military R&D projects, they could be applied in simplistic forms to aerial mobility designs sooner than expected. The contract is set to complete in the summer of 2021.

Why it’s important: A variety of emergent aerospace technologies are being actively researched through government contracts, and while they may not yet be ready for direct application to aerial mobility or eVTOL designs, their potential benefits could be realized 5-10 years in the future as wide spread commercial application of on-demand mobility services becomes more commonplace. The unique configuration of many eVTOL aircraft would serve to benefit from effectors, as ducted fans and propulsory could potentially serve as the only “control surface” of the aircraft, reducing maintenance costs and increasing efficiency.

Source // DARPA, Aurora Flight Sciences

Honeywell has introduced its innovative new thermal management system, the Micro Vapor Cycle System (MicroVCS). The MicroVCS is an efficient, lightweight thermal management system that uses advanced technology to push cold air or liquid to cool compartments, electric components and power systems. Designed specifically for the emerging aerial mobility industry, the MicroVCS is both lighter and completely oil-free with fewer moving parts, meaning that maintenance and repair are much simpler; an important factor to consider when air taxis will most likely record flights at a higher rate than conventional aircraft. 

“Aircraft in the emerging UAM or all-electric categories will need to be lightweight and avoid significant downtime for maintenance. It will also be extremely important to maintain battery temperature and ensure passenger comfort,” said Tom Hart, VP and general manager of Air & Thermal Systems at Honeywell Aerospace. “Our new MicroVCS is up to 35% lighter and 20% more efficient than existing systems, which helps address these major concerns.”

Notably, the MicroVCS will first be implemented in Eviation’s Alice, an all electric commuter aircraft. According to Omer Bar-Yohay, CEO at Eviation, “In an all-electric aircraft, every ounce counts, so we needed an efficient way to provide cooling comfort for passengers in our fleet without adding excessive weight. Our adoption of the MicroVCS will ensure better aircraft uptime and reduce our overall operating costs while enhancing our passengers’ experience.”

Why it’s important: The MicroVCS is the latest in a series of products Honeywell is developing specifically for aerial mobility. Others include a Compact Fly-by-Wire System, RDR-84K Radar, actuators, and lightweight inertial navigation systems. Having been a reliable and experienced aircraft systems manufacturer for decades, Honeywell’s contributions to the aerial mobility industry will be vital for the continued success of the industry.

Source // Intelligent Aerospace

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

Wisk this week has announced the addition of Dr. Pete Kunz to its board.

Dr. Kunz is the Chief Technologist for Boeing NeXt, as well as Boeing’s Senior Chief Engineer for Unpiloted Systems. Previously, Dr. Kunz held several leadership roles, including chief technology officer at Insitu, Inc., an unmanned aerial systems and services (UAS) company where he led both commercial and defense technical development.

“We are pleased to welcome Pete to our board,” said Gary Gysin, CEO of Wisk. “His background in aerospace engineering and his experience in various aspects of the analysis, design and testing of autonomous aircraft is incredibly valuable as we continue the development and certification process for our self-flying air taxi.”

As one of the visionary leaders behind Boeing NeXt’s UAM strategy, Dr. Kunz’s background in autonomous aircraft brings additional technical and industry expertise to Wisk’s board. Dr. Kunz shares a long history of success in the industry and is recognized as a leader in the UAM space. He shares Wisk’s commitment to transforming the future of urban mobility.

“What I see happening at Wisk is extremely exciting and I love the culture that continues to be built there,” said Kunz. “I’m looking forward to helping the company work through the next phase of their aircraft development and bringing safe, autonomous flight to market.”

Dr. Kunz has a doctorate in aeronautics and astronautics from Stanford University, as well as master’s and bachelor’s degrees in aerospace engineering from Penn State.

Dr. Peter Kunz

Why it matters: Dr. Kunz’s extensive experience in the UAM space in both academia and industry will add visionary leadership to the Wisk board. Wisk has a diverse board and leadership team giving it a competitive advantage in aerial mobility.

Source: Wisk Press Release

Bye Aerospace has begun the next phase of its flight test program for its two-seat all-electric eFlyer 2. The latest aircraft built is a technology demonstrator aircraft that will pave the way for the future of electric flight, and the final version eFlyer 2.

Bye Aerospace’s two-seater eFlyer 2 technology demonstrator.

Bye Aerospace’s mission is to develop innovative and effective zero CO2 electric propulsion systems, along with integrations of structural and mechanical systems and aerodynamic advances. With electric aircraft like the eFlyer 2 moving towards production, the future of electric flight slowly is becoming more clear. This next stage of testing for the eFlyer 2 focuses on identifying an efficient and effective propellor for the eFlyer’s all-electric flight, setting the stage for the propellor dynamics of electric aircraft of all kinds, including eventual all-electric eVTOLs. It’s likely that industry discoveries and innovations being made in these traditional fixed wing electric aircraft (like the eFlyer 2, the magniX Cessna Grand Caravan, and the Ampaire EEL Electric Aircraft) will eventually make their way into all kinds of aerial mobility aircraft, including vertical-lift electric aircraft and more. For now, Bye Aerospace hopes that the eFlyer 2 will dramatically reduce operations costs and eliminate C02 emissions within the pilot flight training industry.

The eFlyer 2 in-flight

Said George E. Bye, CEO of Bye: ““Data from these flight tests will help our engineering team determine the most efficient propeller that will maximize the overall efficiency for the typical flight training syllabus requirement. The prototype Rolls Royce electric motor currently on the eFlyer 2 technology demonstrator has varying torque and a large RPM range with a relatively small size and cross-section compared to a conventional internal combustion engine.  Therefore, more of the propeller length is available to provide thrust across a broad range of RPM.” Mr. Bye concluded by mentioning that multiple iterations of the propellor will be tested over the summer against beneficial and unique electric propulsion criteria required for flight training missions.

Watch a full video summary of Bye’s mission below:

Why it’s important: Bye Aerospace is one of the world’s top companies pushing forward the electric propulsion and flight industry. With advancements made by Bye and similar electric aerospace companies, overall contributions to eVTOL aircraft such as batteries, aerodynamics, and propulsion technologies will be vast.

Airbus has recently released new footage of the CityAirbus eVTOL performing untethered flight at a facility in Donauwörth, Germany. Watch the footage below.

The footage was shared by Airbus Helicopters CEO Bruno Even on his personal Twitter Account. The CityAirbus was quoted as being “a key element in our innovation roadmap in order to develop the techno-bricks necessary for achieving sustainable aviation.” Additionally, according to an Airbus spokesperson, the flight in the footage was in line with the previous flight tests, with no setbacks. Interestingly, it was also the first time Evens personally oversaw the flight of the impressive eVTOL demonstrator. 

The CityAirbus project, part of Airbus’ designs to develop a workable and mass-producible commercial electric air taxi service, explores many aspects for Airbus’ future program. The demonstrator features a four-seat, multicopter design, with eight propellers encased within four ducted propulsion units, and a top speed of 75mph. Airbus is also experimenting with integrated technology for autonomous flight. 

Watch CityAirbus’ first untethered flight here.

For more information on the demonstrator, visit our aircraft page here

The demonstrator features a four-seat, multicopter design, with eight propellers encased within four ducted propulsion units, and a top speed of 75mph.

Why it’s important: As confirmed early summer, Airbus remains committed to the development of the CityAirbus program and air mobility in general. As announced by an Airbus  spokesperson, “Airbus considers new forms of air transport such as UAM [urban air mobility] an opportunity to develop key technologies for the future of VTOL platforms, including electric flight and autonomy.”

Source // @BrunoEven (Bruno Even), Twitter

Vertical Aerospace tweeted it will use Dassault’s 3DEXPERIENCE platform to accelerate product development for its Seraph eVTOL prototype. 3DEXPERIENCE is a cloud-based platform which allows aerospace manufacturers to improve collaboration across design, manufacturing, and testing teams while reducing developmental costs across the value stream. This platform has already been implemented with other eVTOL manufacturers among the likes of Joby Aviation. Vertical Aerospace has a team of 100 engineers and counting and this platform will help give a leg up on the competition.

Before the outbreak of #COVID19, @VerticalAero adopted the #3DEXPERIENCE platform on the cloud. So, even though they are working from home, the team’s mission to revolutionize how people fly is continuing at full speed. Learn how you can do the same: https://t.co/KZN86CPaJ4 pic.twitter.com/yOCdZmPPMl

— 3DEXCITE (@3DEXCITE) June 8, 2020

“At Vertical Aerospace we were fortunate to have moved onto the 3DEXPERIENCE platform on cloud before we were remote working,” said Owen Thompson Cheel, Flight Systems IPT Lead, Vertical Aerospace. “The team has all they need to work from home and by using the platform on cloud we have been able to continue working with virtually no difference in performance. It’s an excellent case for working on the cloud, and the 3DEXPERIENCE platform has allowed us to remain agile and secure without loss of capability, effectively maintaining business continuity.”

Vertical Aerospace will be able to use the cloud-based platform to efficiently deliver its prototype to market while minimizing costs and maintaining quality across the product life-cycle.

“Disruptive innovators like Vertical Aerospace are using the 3DEXPERIENCE platform on the cloud to advance their compelling vision for sustainable mobility and invent new industries,” said David Ziegler, Vice President, Aerospace & Defense Industry, Dassault Systèmes. “As businesses today must completely rethink the way they work, the 3DEXPERIENCE platform on the cloud offers the largest portfolio of applications for product design and engineering from anywhere, with a high level of performance and secure, efficient access to data.”

Why it matters: Dassault Systems is known for its contributions to aerospace program development, most notably its CATIA/ENOVIA/SOLIDWORKS product lineups used by major OEMs including Boeing and Airbus. The 3DEXPERIENCE platform leverages 21st century mobility principles with the latest product life cycle product management technology, ultimately lowering the barriers to entry for players in the aerial mobility space.

Japanese eVTOL company SkyDrive announced the conclusion of their 100th corporate sponsorship agreement, announcing a public flight demo sometime this summer. The company has gained 100 Japanese and international corporations, including Toyota, Panasonic, and Sony PCL, in support of the commercialization of air mobility by 2023. SkyDrive is now readying to tackle their next milestone: a manned public flight demonstration in Japan sometime this summer. Further details on the specifics such as date and location are expected to be released in the following months. 

“On occasion, those of us who were pouring our time and energy into Cartivator’s flying car project as volunteers realized the limitations of privately funded development activities and wondered if our target of staging a flight demonstration in the summer of 2020 could be met,” says SkyDrive Chief Executive Tomohiro Fukuzawa, “However, the generous support of our sponsors, which has come in the form of financial assistance, engineering expertise and insights, and human resources, has meant everything to us and enabled us to hang on to our dream and keep our project going. On behalf of the entire team, I would like once again to express my deepest gratitude to all of our sponsors and promise that we will remain fully committed to staging the flight demonstration scheduled for this summer.”

SkyDrive is a Japanese eVTOL company, originally established by the members of CARTIVATOR, a group of aircraft, drones, and automotive engineers coming from a background of working at Toyota. While SkyDrive originally intended to demonstrate their eVTOL at the lighting of the torch at the 2020 Summer Olympics, the company nevertheless intends to show off the capabilities of their flying car sometime this summer.

Why it’s important: Skydrive is on the leading edge of aerial mobility technology in Japan, and following their acquiral of their 100th corporate sponsor as well as the success of their manned flight tests, now look to demonstrate to the public their accomplishments. It remains to be seen how widely the company expands beyond Japan, but Skydrive’s strong funding and progress in testing has drawn attention across the globe.

Source // SkyDrive Public Relations

After a brief pause in flight testing due to the COVID-19 pandemic, air taxi company Wisk has resumed flight tests of the Cora aircraft in both the U.S and New Zealand. 

Wisk is the result of joint venture between Kitty Hawk and Boeing, in collaboration with Air New Zealand and the New Zealand Government.

Wisk was established in 2019 as a joint venture between The Boeing Company and Kitty Hawk Corporation, in collaboration with Air New Zealand. The Cora aircraft itself was originally created by Kitty Hawk, which has now transitioned to working on its latest aircraft, the Heaviside. As of February 2020, Wisk had signed a partnership with the government of New Zealand to eventually bring Cora’s autonomous air taxi capabilities to the country’s transportation infrastructure. The MoU signed that month allowed Wisk to begin conducting the world’s first full airspace integration trial of an autonomous eVTOL in Canterbury, a large region of New Zealand.

The now-resumed flight tests will evaluate the performance of the aircraft in a real world environment, while collecting data that will help inform the further development, operation, safety features and certification of the Cora aircraft. Prior to the to the COVID-19 pandemic, the company had completed over 1300 test flights to expand the flight envelope, provide data for modeling, improve overall design, and complete procedures to operate the aircraft safely and efficiently.

The Wisk Cora on the ground, making its many propellors visible.

Says Gary Gysin, CEO of Wisk, “The team’s dedication over the past few months has allowed us to remain focused on critical non-flight areas, such as certification, software development, and operations. This has allowed us to maintain momentum during this unique time. But it’s awesome to be flying again.”

Carl Engel, Director, Flight Test for Wisk, comments: “Our first priority has always been safety, both for our employees and in the development of our aircraft. As we return to flight testing, we have implemented a number of procedures and social distancing measures based on best practices and recommendations from local and national health and government organizations.”

Why it’s important: While the COVID-19 pandemic certainly put a temporary hold on physical flight tests, the team at Wisk was successfully able to use that time to achieve many important goals working from home, focusing on subjects like operations, certification, and critical software. Given that Wisk was able to adjust its development workflow so quickly, it was likely able to reduce a great deal of the negative impact of the pandemic slow-down, and now can resume flight testing without delay.

BAE Systems announced via a press release last week their roll out of innovative progress on the electric propulsion system power controller front. Electric ducted fans, or EDF’s, along with brushless electric DC motors, have become popular among many eVTOL prototypes currently in existence. While many designs finalized on DC motors without the ducted fans, the engine (or propulsor) controller technology that best regulates and optimizes energy consumption over time will enable a lower direct operating cost for many customers. When cost is amortized over many thousands of flight hours, those savings add up quickly.

BAE’s main controllers are laptop-sized and are purportedly able to manage almost any propulsive devise – small through large. BAE’s value add to the already well developed electronic engine controller market is their investment in core technologies to reduce the size and weight of their control devices. Their press release state that, as a result of their recent innovative processes, the controllers are now “40 percent smaller and lighter than their original size and weight, but with 10 times the processing power”.

BAE has also added additional cyber security protection measures to their controllers, in order to protect against increasing invisible threats to aviation security. Many aerial mobility companies are developing their propulsion management technology internally, but BAE’s plug and play approach caters to the popular design mantra of sourcing ready to use components in order to create a ready to fly prototype for faster (and arguably cheaper) than a vertically integrated design solution. The future of electric propulsor energy use optimization is crucial considering the projections of the ultimate size of the aerial mobility industry, and the huge efficiency gain and cost reduction from a mere 1% of net change in electricity use.

Why it’s important: Obsession with optimization is no new concept to the aerospace industry, and the concept of electronic brushless motor controllers designed specifically for aerial mobility aircraft, or hybrid propulsion solutions that require greater integration demands, is a subtle yet crucial detail and fundamental design decision for many UAM designers and manufacturers. Some companies will use plug and play hardware such as BAE’s offerings, while others will select to remain in house and create a tailored solution to their needs. Regardless, expect further reductions in weight and size of these controllers, as well as fundamentally different management architecture for systems that largely rely on more distributed power to achieve greater efficiency.

Source // BAE Aerospace Press Release

Israeli aviation company Urban Aeronautics has partnered with HyPoint in order to develop a hydrogen-powered version of their CityHawk eVTOL. The partnership enables Urban Aeronautics to utilize HyPoint’s unique “turbo air-cooled” hydrogen fuel cell design to replace the existing powertrain which uses jet fuel. The new design of the CityHawk will possess obvious advantages; Lightweight, emission-free, reliable, and powerful, HyPoint’s fuel cell is ideal for use in a sector of aviation that increasingly favors environmentally friendly aircraft designs.

The CityHawk, a commercial version of the Cormorant, possesses a moderate resemblance to a futuristic car, lacking the wings or propeller arms that would be seen on the frame of a typical eVTOL aircraft. Officially designated as a “fancraft” by Urban Aeronautics, the VTOL takes flight through inconspicuous lift rotors installed at the front and rear, and is able to seat six people, with autonomous piloting. 

The current design of the CityHawk (and Cormorant) requires the use of several turbine engines, of which the power requirements vastly exceed the ability of any lithium battery-based powertrain, which was the main reason why Urban Aeronautics pursued a partnership with HyPoint. A hydrogen fuel cell powertrain possesses both the capability to run the turbine engines while also presenting a much more environmentally friendly alternative to jet fuel. According to Rafi Yoeli, CEO of Urban Aeronautics, “We look forward to collaborating with HyPoint on the integration of the next generation of hydrogen fuel cell systems for eVTOL transportation and the urban air mobility market… As a high-power, 100 percent environmentally friendly fuel, hydrogen is key to the future of eVTOL aircraft.”

Why it’s important: Urban Aeronautics pursuing a hydrogen based fuel source for the CityHawlk allows for them to keep the attractive design of the Cormorant, which possesses one of the smallest ground footprints of any VTOL air taxi design capable of seating four or more people. A completely electric powertrain is currently not feasible with existing battery technology, but the proposed alternative is the next best thing, as it will still allow Urban Aeronautics to vastly reduce their carbon footprint from their design.

Source // New Atlas