Bivect Air Air Rider (concept design)

(Image credit: Bivect Air)

Air Rider (concept design)
Bivect Air, Inc.
Sainte-Marie-Saint-Raphaël, New Brunswick, Canada
www.gary-gress.pixels.com

Gary Robert Gress, a Canadian mechanical engineer and lifelong aviation innovator is the sole principal of Bivect Air. Gress has has developed multiple two propeller passenger electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) for advanced air mobility. His approach to aircraft design blends decades of aerospace engineering experience with a deep curiosity for vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) history—from early helicopter concepts to modern gyroscopic control systems. In addition, Team Bivect Air participated in the GoAERO competition in the United States (2024-2027) but was unfortunately not a Stage 1 or Stage 2 winner. Gress plans to enter the GoAERO Stage 3 contest.

Some background information about Gress
After retiring around 2012, he returned to school to complete his M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Calgary, with the goal of fully understanding the control of hovering aircraft. His design teacher, who was not in the aerospace industry, taught Gary an invaluable lesson that has spurred him to continue even when he confronts seemingly insurmountable barriers. He once said to the class: "It takes a lot of work to make something simple," he remembers. "I think that is so true and it applies everywhere.," Gress said.

Transitioning eVTOL Aircraft with Augmentative Cross-Modal Elements White Paper
Gress presented "Transitioning eVTOL Aircraft with Augmentative Cross-Modal Elements" at Forum 80, sponsored by the Vertical Flight Society, May 7–9, 2024, Montréal, Québec, Canada. His proposition boiled down, is that two propellers are the right amount of propellers for an eVTOL aircraft with respect to weight and drag considerations. That is, each addition propeller increases weight and drag for the aircraft. In addition, Gress states that two propellers are sufficient for hovering due to what is called active tilting. Active tilting involves the use of the propellers’ gyroscopic, momentum-wheel and drag-torque moments which keeps the aircraft stable during hovering. Three of several aircraft that he cites in the paper are his own prototype aircraft, the AW609 tilt-rotor and the Agusta-Westland Project Zero.

Air Rider passenger eVTOL multicopter (concept design)
The Air Rider is a one passenger open cockpit eVTOL multicopter recreational aircraft. The pilot sits on a snowmobile type seat and the aircraft can be used for low altitude on-road and off-road use. The aircraft has a narrow wing built into the fuselage and when the aircraft is at a very low altitude helps reduce drag which extend the range of the aircraft. In the rear of fuselage are two small rear horizontal stabilizers. The aircraft is small enough to fit in a parking space, garage, highway legal trailer or pickup truck.

The cruise speed of the aircraft is estimated at 145 km/h (90 mph). The multicopter has two tandem configured fixed-pitched counter-rotating propellers on gimballed mounts and can be actively tilted in all directions by servos for all directions of flight including hover and forward flight. There are two electric motors and and are powered by lithium ion batteries. The fuselage is made from carbon fiber composite to give the aircraft a high strength to low weight ratio. The landing gear consists of two short fixed landing skids. There is luggage space underneath the seat of the pilot.

Specifications:

• Aircraft type: Recreational passenger eVTOL multicopter (concept design)
• Piloting: 1 pilot and luggage
• Cruise speed: 145 km/h (90 mph)
• Flight time: 20 minutes with a 91 kg (200 lb) pilot
• Maximum payload: 125 kg (275 lb)
• Propellers: 2 shrouded propellers (counter-rotating propellers which tilt in all directions)
• Electric motors: 2 electric motors, 60 kW rate each
• Power source: Li-Ion batteries
• Fuselage: Carbon fiber composite
• Window: Open cockpit
• Wings: U-shaped lifting fuselage
• Tail: 2 horizontal stabilizers
• Landing gear: 2 short fixed landing skids
• Safety features: Distributed Electric Propulsion (DEP) uses multiple propellers or electric ducted fans, each powered by electric motors, to increase safety through redundancy. If one or more components fail, the remaining ones can still ensure a safe landing. There are also redundancies of critical components in the sub-systems of the aircraft providing safety through redundancy. Having multiple redundant systems on any aircraft decreases having any single point of failure. Has shrouded propellers for additional safety.

Related Aircraft:

• Bivect Air Ariel (concept design)
• Bivect Air Nymbus (concept design)
• Bivect Air Odyssey (concept design)
• Bivect Air Rogue (concept design)
• Bivect Air Tandem-X (concept design)
• Bivect Air Twister (concept design)

Company Insights:

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Resources:

• Gary Robert Gres website
• Gary Robert Gress Facebook
• Gary Robert Gress YouTube
• Gary Robert Gress LinkedIn