VTOL On Demand Mobility

They are simply yielding the industry in order to prevent a full move of it in non-allied countries and not repeat what did happen with the micro-drone industry.

They certainly have identified a cross-systems synergistic model where knowledge originating from one side can be transfered to the other to the ultimate benefit of the military.

In more simple terms (my bad), they might believe that if that industry matures, it will impact how the US Air Force conducts its mission.
 
Hybrid EVTOL being looked at by the airforce:


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Is the conventional helicopter future remaining niche in the future being high attitude hover?
 
Regarding the Sabrewing design I am flabbergasted by the mounting of the forward thrusters on the swiveling noze. That makes for some freakingly solid latches requirements (the attachement points would have to be able to sustain the weight of the entire aircraft in dynamic conditions).

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Regarding the Sabrewing design I am flabbergasted by the mounting of the forward thrusters on the swiveling noze. That makes for freakingly solid latches (the attachement points would have to be able to sustain the weight of the entire aircraft in dynamic conditions).

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Imho, the whole concept is ridiculous... Btw, is that a coffin? :D
 
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A new player...
https://www.aviationtoday.com/2020/...build-generational-electric-air-taxi-company/

"...Like many other eVTOL startups, Archer Aviation’s website includes a sleek-but-mysterious computer-generated aircraft design, detailed performance targets, and a “master plan” to take over the electric aviation future.

But a few elements of Archer’s unveiling set it apart from many of the 250+ other startups eager to join the UAM race. The aircraft’s performance targets — 60 miles range, 150 mph cruise speed — are calculated realistically and transparently, incorporating energy reserve requirements, inaccessible elements of battery storage as well as capacity fade..."
 

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Definitively, the Age of the Startup is over... Please welcome (and grab tightly your wallet) the new era of Startup[side down] :

“The tilt-wing design is more aerodynamically efficient than lift-plus-cruise configurations and it has fewer moving parts compared to tilt-rotors, making it more reliable,” Rimenalli told Robb Report. “The control system is simpler than both configurations as well. It just made sense to choose this path.”


 
But a few elements of Archer’s unveiling set it apart from many of the 250+ other startups eager to join the UAM race. The aircraft’s performance targets — 60 miles range, 150 mph cruise speed — are calculated realistically and transparently, incorporating energy reserve requirements, inaccessible elements of battery storage as well as capacity fade..."

I think not lying about realistic performance is not really a differentiator, the talent from A³, Kitty Hawk and Joby might be though.
 
EASA and FAA eVTOL standards: Two approaches, one objective

Interesting times. This article provides a good overview of the current situation, including the recent involvement of USAF...

"...In the USAF’s own words during its Agility Prime launch event, the intent would be to secure the civilian certification first, and then treat the aircraft as a commercial derivative and any deltas with MIL-HDBK-516C would be addressed..."

"... As a potential investor, the very first question in my due diligence would be, “Have you been in touch with the certifying authorities, and what was their feedback?” ..."

Exactly!
 
Wisk is using New Zealand as a key base of operations due to some interesting provisions in the NZ aviation authority flight codes, which could allow the Cora to fly commercially well before it's possible in other parts of the world. This could give Wisk a commercial advantage over the rest of the eVTOL air taxi market. To date, the company has made more than 1,300 test flights, gradually expanding the flight envelope and developing procedures and processes for safe operation.


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A Boeing spokeswoman issued the following written statement in response to questions from AIN about the future of its urban air mobility activities: “Aurora will remain a subsidiary and will continue to be part of NeXt for the remainder of the year. Management is assessing several options regarding when this talented organization can make a meaningful and productive impact. In the meantime, it continues to run its business as usual. Our continued investment in and participation with Wisk is being evaluated and no decisions have been made.” She added that the same situation applies to Boeing’s investment in Aerion.
 
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téléchargement.png

 
Hmmm...do i understand correctly that this is a liquid-cooled design? If that's the case, it's unfair to compare its specific power to that of air-cooled designs without adding the mass of the cooling system. I mean, still impressive figures, but i doubt they actually 'tripled the power density'. Headline aside, the rest of the article had good information.
 
If we are speaking about installed power, we would have to take into consideration the liquid cooling unit from the original ICE. Yes it would be removed with an air cooled electrical engine and not replaced but at the end this little "trick" is still valid: regarding any engine swap, this one will triple power density (the weight balance with the liquid coolant unit being certainly negative) regarding any other electrical installation.

To give some perspectives, from my mem, this unit packs three time more for 1/4th the weight of a Rotax 100hp when other market engines, as claimed here, would simply have an equal output with a somewhat equal weight.

This is significant.
 
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Hmmm...do i understand correctly that this is a liquid-cooled design? If that's the case, it's unfair to compare its specific power to that of air-cooled designs without adding the mass of the cooling system. I mean, still impressive figures, but i doubt they actually 'tripled the power density'. Headline aside, the rest of the article had good information.

In my experience this kind of misinformation from new entrant electric motor vendors is monotonously common. The other common thing they claim for WoW factor, is a peak useable torque at the stall torque, which of course it’s not a practical useful condition.

Ultimately it’s quite easy to design an electric motor at reasonable high efficiency which means you bump up against the laws of physics. At this point it’s a law of diminishing returns, where you need to work really hard to get a small improvement.... single digit improvements are quite possible and impressive (eg reduction in AC filter sizing, hence core losses, by inbuilt PE being such an idea) Ultimately the motors performance depends on winding resistance, cooling and magnetic flux density.
Liquid cooling generally doubles, maybe a bit more, the power density of the electromotive element.
 
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GKN design (30-50 pax) :
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And if my mom had wheels, i would call her a wagon...

Lithium batteries, fans, and fairy dust, of course.
 

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