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Dufour Aerospace, a Swiss company developing tilt-wing eVTOL aircraft, has announced a partnership with new Australian firm V-STAR Powered Lift Aviation for eVTOL applications in Australia.

Above: Rendering of Dufour Aerospace’s eVTOL on a potential rescue or cargo mission in Australia

Australian firm V-STAR Powered Lift Aviation is a newly formed venture by a group of business leaders with significant experience in defense, commercial, and search and rescue operations around the globe, and was created through a merger between two leading South Australia aviation businesses.

According to recent press release from Dufour, V-STAR sees the potential for many domestic applications of VTOL aircraft in Australia, and hopes to take advantage of the unique market opportunities presented by Dufour’s aircraft.

Said V-STAR’s CEO and Founder Tony Laws: “These new aircraft designs will change the way we approach regional travel and transport in Australia. Anywhere we need to get people and equipment quickly and cheaply is where these aeroplanes come in.”

The agreement between Dufour and V-STAR will give V-STAR early access to Dufour’s unmanned and manned tilt-wing aircraft. The unmanned aircraft will be capable of carrying up to 88 lbs of cargo, while the manned version could carry up to 7 passengers plus a pilot, or about 1600 lbs of cargo.

Dufour’s Co-Founder and CEO Thomas Pfammatter commented: “We are very much looking forward to exploring the many opportunities for deploying unmanned and manned tilt-wing aircraft in Australia. The formation of V-STAR Powered Lift Aviation marks an important milestone in this journey. We are proud to be working with such an experienced team to move sustainable aviation forward.”

Dufour has over 30 years of experience in Swiss commercial helicopter operations, and has been working on its eVTOL program since 2018. Watch a recent test flight video of a scale prototype from Dufour below:

Why it’s important: With this announcement, V-STAR and Dufour aerospace have given themselves additional credibility on the market, and have begun to set up a path to commercial operations for Dufour’s eVTOL aircraft. With the aerial mobility on the rise in Australia, Dufour and V-STAR are now well set up to make their mark on this new aerial transportation industry.

Source // Dufour Aerospace

Related:

• Australia Releases Timeline for Advanced Aerial Mobility Progress; Skyportz Positions for Future (July 2022)
• Savback Helicopters to distribute Dufour Aerospace eVTOL aircraft in Scandinavia (January 2022)
• A First Look at Aero3, Dufour Aerospace’s Flagship eVTOL Aircraft (August 2021)
• Dufour and Blueberry Aviation Enter Strategic Partnership (April 2022)

Blueberry Aviation, a global commercial aircraft and helicopter specialist, and Dufour Aerospace, a Swiss eVTOL company, announced on April 4th that they’ve signed a global partnership agreement. Under this agreement Blueberry Aviation will provide marketing advisory and placement support to Dufour Aerospace. Blueberry Aviation will be Dufour’s privileged partner for helicopter trade-in and will set up financial tools to fund or lease Dufour products. Also of substantial note and included in Dufour’s press release was acquisition plans from Blueberry Aviation to purchase 100 Aero2 and 100 Aero3 products from Dufour.

Blueberry Aviation has 20 years of experience in the commercial aircraft and helicopter markets and resultantly is well posied to support Dufour Aerospace in launching its aircraft and achieving its commercial goals. 

The tilt-wing design of Dufour Aerospace’s aircraft family combines the ability to take off and land vertically like a helicopter with the efficiency and speed of a conventional aircraft, without the constraints and limitations of other eVTOL designs. With unparalleled range and speed, high payload and large access doors, Dufour’s Aero2 and Aero3 offer many assets for operators and end users seeking efficient and cost-effective sustainable technology.

The Aero2 is an electric-hybrid, remotely piloted aircraft which has applications in surveillance and mapping activities, critical cargo delivery (high value goods or medical supplies such as blood, vaccines or organs), or public security applications like search and rescue and firefighting.       

The Aero3 is a larger, pilot operated aircraft with a has a maximum take-off weight of 2800kg (6173 lbs), a useable weight of 750kg (1653 lbs) with a cabin for up to 8 passengers, a cruise speed of 350 km/h (189 knots), and a range of 1020 km (551 nm). Dufour is marketing the Aero3 as a replacement for many helicopter operations, particularly EMS transport, SAR operations and surveillance, and also asserts that the Aero3 will “create tremendous opportunities for airlines to attract new customers by feeding their current routes with legs from previously untapped areas with limited air services.”

The aircraft is being designed to meet EASA’s SC-VTOL (Special Condition for VTOL) standards, making use of a hybrid-electric propulsion system to meet the requirements of operators in multi platforms. Aero3 is due to be certification ready in 2025 with an entry into service in 2026.

Why it’s important: The partnership between Dufour and Blueberry will aid both firms’ progress in the emerging aerial mobility space by leveraging one another’s strengths as an OEM and marketing/operating specialist, respectively. Blueberry’s helicopter background will supplant the future transition toward mixed aircraft medium operations, including that of eventual eVTOL aircraft introduction to the current fleet of traditional helicopters. Further, laying the frameworks for these types of operations today will better prepare global aviation operations for an equipment swap once the time is right and the technical maturity of AAV systems is adequate to begin passenger carrying operations.

Dufour Aerospace announced today that Savback Helicopters will promote and distribute Dufour’s innovative tilt-wing aircraft – Aero2 and Aero3 – in Scandinavia. Dufour expressed confidence that Savback “will bring significant knowledge of use-cases and market prospects, especially in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark and Iceland.”

Savback Helicopter’s tagline is “a breath of fresh air” and Dufour Aerospace “couldn’t agree more”. The Swedish helicopter sales and marketing company, Savback, has over 30 years of experience selling more than 900 helicopters in 75 different countries. They’re known to use their influence to advise clients on the environmental performance of different models of helicopters to enable more environmentally-friendly processes and practices – leading Dufour to partner.

“We strongly believe that Dufour Aerospace’s 8-seater Aero3 provides options for both today’s helicopter market, as well as new use cases which its cutting-edge technology opens up for us,” said Reja Savbäck, CEO of Savback Helicopters. Thomas Pfammatter, CEO and Co-Founder of Dufour Aerospace, added: “Savback Helicopters is a reliable, experienced partner, well-positioned to promote our Aero3 aircraft in Scandinavia. It makes us proud that such an experienced company strongly anchored in the helicopter market believes in the real potential of our vision, designs and team.”

Dufour shared that while the manned Aero3 is eminently suitable for addressing the needs of Advanced Air Mobility, the company is initially focused on applications that do not require additional new infrastructure, such as Air Ambulance and Search and Rescue.

Why it’s important: This distribution partnership will allow Dufour to be afforded of the increased network of Savback’s clients, and position Dufour as a leading eVTOL company for distribution in Scandanavian countries that Savback has ample experience with. Additionally, this partnership underscores throughput of helicopter to eVTOL aircraft experiences for both customers and operators, and would create a common thread, and natural progression, for helicopter operators to then step forward into the aerial mobility space.

Read the full release on Dufour’s website here.

Dufour Aerospace has just published specification details on the Aero3, its flagship VTOL tilt-wing aircraft that aims to combine exceptional space, load and range for various transportation missions including most of today’s helicopter applications. This piloted, multi-purpose hybrid aircraft is a successor to the unmanned demonstrator aircraft test flown by Dufour Aerospace since 2020.

A demonstration of the Aero 3’s transition from horizontal to vertical flight. Credit // Dufour Aerospace

Aero3 will feature a decentralized electric main propulsion system of eight motors powering six propellers fixed to the main tilt-wing and two smaller tail propellers. Its large cabin and wide doors allow for a 6- or 8-seat configuration and offer enough space for patient or cargo transport. The design features an exceptional cruise speed of 350 km/h (189 knots) and a range of up to 1020 km (551 nautical miles), Aero3 will be the perfect tool for most VTOL applications.

According to Thomas Pfammatter, CEO and Co-founder of Dufour Aerospace: “The tilt-wing design of Aero3 combines the best of the worlds of helicopters and airplanes – the ability to take off and land like a helicopter and the efficiency and speed of an airplane in cruise flight. It is the perfect tool to serve future Advanced Air Mobility markets because it is efficient and safe. But even while these markets are in their infancy, our product will replace a significant number of today’s light and medium helicopters, as it meets the requirements of today’s operations at much lower costs, more sustainable and will be much quieter. It will seamlessly integrate with existing infrastructure and airspace.”

“Our test flights with a large-scale demonstrator and the wind tunnel tests have clearly confirmed the exceptional performance and versatility of the tilt-wing design,” said Jasmine Kent, CTO and Co-founder of Dufour Aerospace. “The results met our high expectations. The tilt-wing is a proven aerodynamic concept with a long history of thousands of flight hours in several projects, such as the inspirational Canadair CL-84, so there are fewer risks than with other VTOL concepts. Now three years into our tilt-wing development programme, we are confident that this aircraft can be built successfully to meet certification requirements.”

Why it’s important: While Aero3 is the flagship of Dufour Aerospace’s tilt-wing product family, the Swiss company is simultaneously and ambitiously working on a smaller, unmanned aircraft named Aero2, using the same aerodynamic and technical principles. Aero2 is designed for logistics applications, inspection, monitoring, mapping, and public safety tasks; this implies that Dufour will have the capability to reach a wide array of markets and potential customers with its suite of products, thereby diversifying its revenue streams. Earlier this year, the company also announced that it received funding from session.vc and existing investors to accelerate growth; these investments have proven to be essential in the progression towards the commercial launch of its versatile (hybrid) eVTOL platform.

Source // Dufour Aerospace press release

Dufour Aerospace announced on Monday that is has been selected by the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) as one of the winners of their 22nd annual Startup Competition.

The startup competition hosts a team of IMD faculty with extensive experience in entrepreneurial activities will select the winning startups, with advisory support from the Swiss government Innosuisse, VentureKick, MassChallenge Switzerland and investiere.

The hosts create a ‘short list’ of candidates within 2 weeks of the close of the registration, and then steadily work to narrow down the list. Winners are officially selected in early December and expect a formal commitment by the selected ventures shortly afterwards.

Dufour stated on a short press release from their website: “We look forward to learning from the IMD’s expertise in international management, which will complement the technical leadership of our partners at ETH Zurich and ZHAW Center for Aviation in aircraft control and design.”

Based in Lausanne, Switzerland, and Singapore, IMD has been ranked in the top five for executive education worldwide for 15 years and in the top three for the last eight years by The Financial Times.

Dufour Aerospace is a young start-up on a mission to revolutionize vertical mobility by developing electric and hybrid-electric tilt-wing VTOL aircraft.

Why it’s important: IMD’s selection of Dufour Aerospace is an opportunity for the executive team at Dufour to continue to grow professionally and further advance the progress of talent development and technology maturation in relation to both existing electric aviation solutions to general aviation and future solutions to aerial mobility over the next 10 to 15 years. A number of successful startups have previously been selected by IMD in their startup competition, including AC Immune, Biowatch, Doodle, ecoRobotix, G-Therapeutics, Softwing, SpiroChem, Sysmosoft, Uepaa, VisioWave, and VWavecall.

In a recent article published by Dufour Aerospace, video footage was released on the performance of its tilt-wing technology last week, validating its design efforts using a systematic engineering approach to confirm that its proposed solution for transition from horizontal to accelerated forward flight was feasible. This technology is ultimately planned to be incorporated on the aEro family of vehicles.

Acceleration and angle of Incidence Variation, along with acceleration, relative to deflection angle. Source // DuFour & ETH Autonomous Systems Lab

The testing was conducted on a subscale model aircraft that roughly resembles the geometry of the aEro proposed fleet of vehicles, and much of the data analysis focused on variations of tilt angle of the wing and attached propulsors [theta] and the forward speed of the aircraft. David Rohr of the ETH Autonomous Systems Lab worked extensively on creating trim maps that define the variations in trim settings of the wing (which are non-linear) as the aircraft flies in the transitory phase between hovering and accelerated forward flight.

The testing analyzed six cases, depicted in the following video:

• Forward and back transition
• Vertical Velocity Cruise Control
• Slow-Forward Transition
• Back-Transition
• Maneuvering in Transition
• Maneuvering in Cruise
• Cruise-Controlled Transitioning
• Transitioning, in-Air Video
• Cruise-Controlled Short Landing

This testing provides Dufour with valuable data that may be used as a benchmark for future flight testing on horizontal to forward flight transitions. While not the first instance of horizontal to forward flight, Dufour’s efforts are unique in that they’re one of the first publicly-available studies on this transition. In other areas of aerospace, such as defense, the V-22 Osprey in many ways pioneered this transitory flight regime.

Why it’s important: Dufour Aerospace’s advance of tilt-wing technology and release of test results confirms the companies’ progress toward a bringing an eVTOL to market. Building on the successful test of the aEro 1 aerobatic aircraft, Dufour (in conjunction with the ETH Autonomous Systems Lab) are continuing their progress in technological advances for both UAV and UAM technology.

Read the full release from Dufour here.

Read David Rohr’s study on Tilt-wing aircraft control here.

Dufour Aerospace is a unique VTOL start-up based in Switzerland. It’s mission is to develop a passenger VTOL for areas like the Swiss Alps, where mountainous terrain can cause extremely long travel times between cities.

The Dufour team has already made significant progress by developing an electric airplane that has proven flight up to one hour, multiple times per day. Dufour predicts that it will have its aEro2 eVTOL for testing by 2020.

The aEro1, Dufour’s electric test plane

On November 14th, Dufour announced the formation of Senior Advisory team, which includes Professor Dr. Leonardo Manfriani (former chief aerodynamicist at Pilatus Aircraft), Dr. Pierluigi Capone (former head of flight control laws at AgustaWestland), and Dr. Jean-Christophe Zufferey (Co-founder and former CEO of senseFly).

Left to right: Professor Dr. Leonardo Manfrianni of Pilatus Aircraft, Dr. Jean-Christophe Zuffrey of senseFly, and Dr. Pierluigi Capone of AugustWestland flight control laws.

This Announcement also comes with a statement from Dufour saying that The Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm recently conducted a performance review of the aEro2’s design, which confirmed its stability with at least 10% safety margin across all modes of flight.

Dufour is also closely working on its R&D projects with ETH Zürich and the Zurich University of Applied Sciences to “further develop Dufour’s tilt-wing aircraft propulsion, control systems, and human-machine interfaces”.

Among the notable members of the Senior Advisory team is Dr. Jean-Christophe Zufferey, who is the co-founder and former CEO of senseFly, which developed a series of fixed-wing drones for various commercial mapping needs including agriculture, construction, environmental protection, and mining. Drones made by sureFly can fly up to 90 minutes at altitudes up to 400 ft. SureFly is now a subsidiary of the Parrot Group.

senseFly’s long-distance drone offerings

Also significant on the advisory team is Dr. Leonardo Manfriani, former chief aerodynamicist at Pilatus Aircraft. Pilatus is a leading developer of private aircraft ranging from trainer planes to passenger jets. Having Manfriani on the senior advisory will greatly help Dufour reach its goal of a 2020 fuselage build.

An example of some of the aircraft built by Pilatus

Why it’s important: With the formation of its new senior advisory team, Dufour continues to grow. In early September, it hired test pilot Damian Hischier, who has extensive experience in testing new aircraft. The new senior advisory team further validates the aEro2 concept, and builds momentum for Dufour.

Cyclorotor unveiled footage of the first flight of their Bumblebee2.0 concept with an Enhanced Propulsion system last week. The flight occurred at the end of August, 2023. This aircraft showcases a unique configuration, featuring four CR42 CycloRotors and an advanced flight control system. The launch of the outdoor flight campaign marks progress toward development of CYCLOROTOR’s unique aviation propulsion system.

The flight demonstration took place at a general aviation airport in Austria. CYCLOROTOR shares that their outdoor flight operations adhere to all applicable regulations set by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), operating under the UAS operational authorization for the “specific” category.

Over the coming months, Cyclorotor plans to demonstrate the capabilities of its 360° thrust vectoring CycloRotors. These innovative propulsion units are based off of a design that’s over 100 years old and can challenge traditional aerial mobility industry aircraft configurations. However, not all are in agreement of the level of enhanced maneuverability, stability, and efficiency in flight offered by this unique configuration. CYCLOROTOR aims to systematically expand the flight envelope, further exploring and collecting data on the performance of their unique aircraft design.

While the debut of Bumblebee2.0 represents a unique application of a novel propulsion and lifting concept that is over a century old, it is important to note that this novel configuration may only partially permeate into limited applications in the drone industry. As with any unique configuration, widespread adoption often requires time and industry-wide acceptance in addition to successful, demonstrated performance.

Why it’s important: CYCLOROTOR has invited aviation enthusiasts, industry stakeholders, and the public to stay tuned for more updates as they continue to push the boundaries of what is possible in the world of aerial mobility. While their novel configuration is still not proven for widespread application, the team is making strides toward advancement of a unique type of aircraft and collecting data that can be used to improve future variants.

VoltAero has achieved a significant milestone by conducting a flight using its proprietary electric-hybrid powertrain, fueled entirely by sustainable bioethanol from TotalEnergies. The landmark event took place at VoltAero’s development facility in Royan, France, and represents a giant stride towards greener and more sustainable aviation.

The successful flight test utilized VoltAero’s Cassio S testbed airplane, serving as a crucial validation step for both the electric-hybrid powertrain and the use of sustainable fuels. This accomplishment plays a pivotal role in de-risking the airworthiness certification process for forthcoming production models within the Cassio aircraft family.

Jean Botti, CEO and Chief Technology Officer of VoltAero noted that “based on initial results, we calculated a truly impressive CO2 reduction of approximately 80 percent while operating the Cassio powertrain in its electric-hybrid mode and with the internal combustion engine fueled by TotalEnergies’ Excellium Racing 100.” This development highlights the potential of Cassio aircraft to contribute significantly to the aviation industry’s decarbonization goals by replacing conventional Avgas 100 high-octane fuel.

The collaboration between VoltAero and TotalEnergies reflects a step toward the broader adoption of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) in general aviation. Excellium Racing 100, derived from winemaking waste, has demonstrated its environmental benefits in automobile competitions and features a 65% reduction in CO2 emissions compared to its fossil fuel counterparts over its life cycle.

Joël Navaron, President of TotalEnergies Aviation, emphasized the company’s commitment to supporting aviation’s decarbonization objectives. TotalEnergies has initiated various actions, including the installation of electric charging stations for general aviation aircraft and a pilot program aimed at offering SP98-type fuel for compatible aircraft.

The Cassio family of aircraft, integrated with VoltAero’s patented electric-hybrid propulsion system, promises to revolutionize regional commercial operations, air taxi services, private ownership, and utility applications like cargo transport and medical evacuation (Medevac). With its unique hybrid propulsion system, Cassio delivers higher performance and significantly reduced operational costs.

Why it’s important: VoltAero’s latest achievement is desired by those in aerospace to become a more common occurrence in the next chapter of aviation, taking aerial mobility one step closer to more environmentally friendly outcomes. While the current supply of sustainable aviation fuel does not yet support full deployment of flights using SAF, compatibility with sustainable aviation fuels is crucial for future regional mobility aircraft designs.