VTOL On Demand Mobility

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Skyworks Aeronautics plans to resurrect gyrodynes for the eVTOL age

Big money has decided electric VTOL air taxis are happening, but in all the excitement around drone-style multirotors, perhaps a gap has been left open for an older, less glamorous, but well-proven type of design to sneak in and scoop the market. I'm speaking of the humble gyrodyne.
newatlas.com newatlas.com
 
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Eh. Did United actually give them a single cent? i think it's just a letter of intent, no? I don't think they have to buy anything until the thing is certified...sometime in the next thirty years
 
Another case of a solution looking for a problem. Especially now that the Virus has made rapid urban transit even less essential.
 
AeroFranz said:
Eh. Did United actually give them a single cent? i think it's just a letter of intent, no? I don't think they have to buy anything until the thing is certified...sometime in the next thirty years
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Contrary to what's written in the title, United Airlines only invested in the capital as explained in the report. .
 
Thought we had a separate topic on the Jetoptera J2000 and its unusual propulsion system, but I can't find it.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPZI6XoHi10


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In this video we will be looking at Jetoptera's Bladeless Propulsion System that utilizes fluid induction. There are several advantages of doing this specially in conjunction with boxwings. At present Fluidics propulsion system will utilize GE aviation gas turbine but it can use an electric turbine as well.
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newatlas.com

Ascendance proposes a long-range, low-emission hybrid VTOL air taxi

Right now, the entire electric VTOL scene is a house built on a foundation of faith. Faith that the hordes of researchers beavering away on next-gen battery technology will achieve an enormous energy density breakthrough, or faith that hydrogen fuel cell powertrains will prove safe, reliable and…
newatlas.com newatlas.com

France's Ascendance sees an opportunity for an intermediate step. The company was founded by four ex-Airbus employees who worked on the groundbreaking E-Fan project, which back in 2015 became the first electric aircraft to cross the English Channel. Now, the team is working on a hybrid initiative to make long-range, low-emissions VTOL flight a reality even before the battery and hydrogen guys make their breakthroughs.
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Grey Havoc said:
France's Ascendance sees an opportunity for an intermediate step. The company was founded by four ex-Airbus employees who worked on the groundbreaking E-Fan project, which back in 2015 became the first electric aircraft to cross the English Channel
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It’s such a shame these people tell blatant lies to promote their cause;- the real first electric aeroplane to cross the English Channel was in 1981.

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kAw6RFIVRUo


It’s seems to quite common trait In eVTOL land.
 
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Some companies may not be happy with their rating ;)...

https://aamrealityindex.com/

Introducing the AAM Reality Index (ARI)​

The ARI is a rating tool, based on a proprietary formula that uses publicly available information as well as expert knowledge. It helps assess the industry entrants’ progress toward the delivery of a certified product at mass scale production. While at launch 14 OEMs were rated, the tool is periodically updated to include new entrants as well as any new information on existing entrants. We plan to expand the tool to other areas of the AAM ecosystem. The tool is un-biased and data-based. It is not meant as an endorsement or a critique of any specific company, but as a simple, easy-to-use guide to the complexities of the AAM industry...
 

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Does it have a negative index? Otherwise the number of zero might only equal rapidly the amount of capital raised.

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Just read the detail of how the evaluation is done and I guess that now we need an evaluation algorithm for the ARI too...

You got a 10 whatever you mass produces... In the automotive industry, that's how a bunch of manufacturer, producing the longest uninterrupted series of the most polluting vehicles got to reign in the world market...
 
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VTOLicious said:
"One of the keys to unlocking the future of Urban Air Mobility (UAM) is exploring how different technologies and configurations of aircraft will perform in the urban environment. To start gathering as much data as possible, NASA engineers are moving forward with their newest modular unmanned aerial system, the Langley Aerodrome #8"
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...
View: https://youtu.be/-Z_r6GgK7M4
 
Hmm, Can't believe I missed out on Opener Blackfly's amazingly minimalist configuration. This may end up as the cheapest vtol configuration for a lot of use scales and even if all the other ideas in the domain fizzles out I think this config will remain. (what, helicopters? lol)

This is basically a tailsitter that "rolls" to a more horizontal configuration on the ground. This means tailsitter advantages with reduced disadvantages.

opener-blackfly-generations.jpg

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=671Vf3PFlWU


www.opener.aero

Pivotal

Pivotal produces Helix, an electric fixed-wing vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. Pivotal's distinct design is being developed for personal, public service, and defense applications — changing the way we open the sky for everyone.
www.opener.aero www.opener.aero
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This design appears to be pushed by folks less than ambitious (in terms of money grabbing) than other EVTOL groups pitching for "revolution in travel forever" though. There is no clear large scale use case for the design, the strategy seems to be for pushing it out to market the fastest.

After seeing this though, I roll my eyes at many of the inelegant designs being pitched. I guess the other crazy thing is that this seems even personally affordable.... beats a boat or fancier car any day.


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Pipistrel Vertical Solutions Nuuva V300

<a class="d-block mb-4 h-100" href="__media/Aircraft D
evtol.news
Hmm, the Pipistrel Nuuva will probably compete closely with sabrewing. Wonder what VTOL air cargo costs will be like in a decade.
 
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"...Sabrewing Aircraft plans to perform the first flight of its Rhaegal unmanned heavy-lift, long-range half-scale prototype aircraft by the end of March, Ed De Reyes, Sabrewing chairman and CEO, told Janes on 9 March.
This half-scale prototype has an 8.5 m wingspan, and will be roughly half the weight of the full-size production aircraft...
...Sabrewing is installing a Safran Arriel 2D turboshaft engine that it received for free from Safran into the half-scale prototype for use in its upcoming flight test. The Arriel 2D, which powers the Airbus H125 and H130 single engine commercial helicopters, features a take-off power of 952 shaft horsepower (shp), and a cruise power of 856 shp..."

https://www.janes.com/defence-news/...rst-flight-of-rhaegal-uav-half-scale-protoype

Btw, "half the weight of the full-size production aircraft" corresponds to 2000 kg (VTOL).
 

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I am a bit skeptical. Two points: the Carbone skin is utterly garbage and they still have their engine pylons molded with the swiveling noze what should scare any accountant with an engineering degree*


*yes, they are probably pretty safe...
 
Structural carbon fibers battery with a yet honest 25GPa Young Moduli (promise to reach 75 soon):

"Massless" carbon fiber battery doubles as a structural component

From electric planes that can only fly for so long to electric cars that need to pull over for a recharge every few hundred miles, heavy, bulky batteries are a huge, limiting factor in how far these types of vehicles can travel. Scientists at Chalmers University of Technology have been exploring an…
newatlas.com newatlas.com
 
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2nd iteration of beta goes to a simple lift cruise

Interesting interview inside on a number of design decisions from battery location, aerodynamics, configurations, and so on.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HKD5WsTqOQ

Cargo, medical and government as first target....

CEO as chief flight test pilot ....
 
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Omg, Lililum introduced a 7-seater... Those tiny fixed pitch fans are cute! ...Not sure if the variable nozzle will do the trick.

https://lilium.com/jet
 

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Notice the very short travel length of the landing gear (ground to bottom of the aero fairing) that certainly hasn't take into account passenger's comfort (safety could have included frangible fairing, so hard to say).
 
TomcatViP said:
Notice the very short travel length of the landing gear (ground to bottom of the aero fairing) that certainly hasn't take into account passenger's comfort (safety could have included frangible fairing, so hard to say).
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With an appropriate landing gear it could evolve into a useful STOL aircraft :)
 
...Stupid JOBY has long legs and big rotors. Why?:p
 

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The bit missed here is Lililum’s stock market float via a SPAC, which is shell company, pumped full of money by the general public and then drained into the original investors bank accounts. Thus this forms a legal mechanism for passing their loss on to thousands of individuals. This fantasy 7 seater is the “convincer” to oil the wheels.
 
nice article:

Lilium Goes Big

By Mike Hirschberg Vertiflit
www.evtol.news

especially this quote:
As opposed to some companies who were raking up hundreds of flights and saying very little (e.g. Joby Aviation) or flying a lot and talking a lot (e.g. EHang), Lilium was sometimes considered to have a “big mouth” — making wild claims that it seemed unlikely to be able to back up.
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finally some technical paper also (link in the article above, but that link goes only to the investor page)

direct link: https://lilium.com/files/redaktion/refresh_feb2021/investors/Lilium_7-Seater_Paper.pdf
 
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