Samad Aerospace Starling Jet

[Cy-27]

Announced at the Singapore Airshow on Tuesday 6th February 2018 was the Samad Aerospace Starling Jet VTOL blended wing project.

The Cranfield, Bedfordshire based company is developing an electric VTOL biz-jet. The aircraft is to be capable of taking off and landing from a helipad-sized area.

It hopes to have a range of 1,500 miles and be able to carry 5 people with a single pilot. The Starling Jet speed will be 450 miles per hour in hybrid-electric configuration and is going to be developed with fly by wire and full autonomous capability.

The website (http://www.samadaerospace.com) states that less than 20 hours of training would be enough to fly the Starling Jet and that there will be three variants, a UAV, an electric-jet and a hybrid-electric jet.

The Starling Jet is designed to have the high power to weight ratio electric fans similar to that of gas turbine engines. In addition, it features the power electronics and battery technology that can operate at a very low temperature and an environment of 30,000 ft altitude. The company is taking advantage of current developments in battery and power electronics and low cost gas turbine engine for charging the batteries at cruise.

The Flight Daily Show Special (Day 2) features a model of the Starling Jet on the front cover.

 

[hesham]

Nice find my dear Cy-27.

 

[cluttonfred]

Can anyone say "vaporware?" Have they actually built and flown anything, ever?

 

[Foo Fighter]

It seems that anyone with a fancy website and a pretty picture or two can announce a start up to 'allow' investors to get involve. I always think 'fleeced' when I think of these. How about the personal flying vehicle that had lift fans and a drive fan. Going to fly itself and it went on for years until the idiot was arrested an put on trial for fraud. If it sounds too good, it usually is.

 

[Avimimus]

Long history of that though. It is almost tradition.

Heck, even well thought out designs with lots of testing which aren't based on the innovations of cranks tend to go bankrupt in aerospace. It really is a field that favours giant corporations with (hidden or public) government/taxpayer subsidies.

I'd be very surprised if the BWB configuration doesn't see production someday. Electric engines are heavy but they can produce very large amounts of power at low speed, so they are somewhat useable for V/STOL applications. Ultra-high bypass is also an inevitability. So, it has a smattering of good concepts.

However, without an actual powerplant prototype (etc.) and other detailed design work this stuff is all a decade out, not a year from production. I still wouldn't be surprised if they do manage a 1/10th scale drone using an excessive power-to-weight ratio to 'attract' more investment.

 

[Bgray]

I'd be a lot more confident if there was something on the page that isn't CGI. There are Deviantart artists that could pull off what we see there.

 

[Cy-27]

Yet another project looking for funding.

The time scales appear very optimistic as well...

2017 - Drafted first sketches
2018 - 1:10 scale UAV to fly
2019 - First flight of unmanned full scale e-Starling version
2021 - First customer e-Starling delivery and full scale Starling Jet to fly
2024 - first delivery of Starling Jet to customer