Bivect Air Ariel (concept design)

(Image credit: Bivect Air)

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

Led by Canadian engineer and lifelong aviation, innovator Gary Robert Gress of Bivect Air has developed a tandem-propeller Emergency Response Flyer designed for rapid deployment, direct patient access and stability in challenging environments for the GoAERO competition. For the competition, Gress found inspiration from an unlikely pop culture source, M*A*S*H, the Korean War-era mobile army surgical hospital (MASH) depicted in the award-winning film and TV series. The Ariel is the eVTOL aircraft that he submitted to the GoAERO Stage 2 competition.

Gary's approach to aircraft design blends decades of engineering experience with a deep curiosity for vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) history—from early helicopter concepts to modern gyroscopic control systems. His flyer, Ariel, reflects that vision: compact, transportable and built to reach places traditional aircraft can’t. While Team Bivect Air participated in the GoAERO competition, the team was unfortunately not a Stage 1 or Stage 2 winner. He 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.

Tandem-Propeller eVTOL Aircraft for Penetrative Rescue Operations (Ariel) White Paper
Gress had planned to attend (but cancelled) and present a white paper on "Tandem-Propeller eVTOL Aircraft for Penetrative Rescue Operations" at the AIAA AVIATION Forum 2026, June 8-12, 2026 in San Diego, California, USA. His presentation was concerning his GoAERO Stage 2 competition entry, the Ariel. However, Gress cancelled his plans to travel to the United States. (AIAA = American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics)

Ariel emergency rescue passenger eVTOL multicopter (concept design)
This Ariel is an autonomous emergency rescue passenger eVTOL multicopter aircraft to be deployed during natural disasters, humanitarian emergencies and climate crises around the world. A paramedic with medical supplies can be loaded into the aircraft just before flying the aircraft to the victim during a rescue mission. Once at the rescue zone, the paramedic can treat the victim with first aid and be flown back to a waiting ambulance. The aircraft is able to be transported by a highway legal trailer or large pickup truck and is able to fly to and back from a rescue zone. 

There are two counter-rotating propellers (each propeller can tilt in all directions), has two electric motors and is powered by four Li-Ion battery packs. The payload weight is calculated at 57 kg (125 lb). And with a 57 kg (125 lb) payload, the flight time is anticipated to be 21.5 minutes. A lower payload weight will increase the flight time. The aircraft has an open stretcher-like platform with prone seating for a paramedic or a victim. The fuselage is made from carbon fiber composite to give the aircraft a high strength to low weight ratio. The rescue aircraft has fixed skid landing gear.

Gress not only created a detailed concept design drawing but he has also made and flown a subscale prototype of the rescue aircraft. His video of the prototype flight is listed below.

About the GoAERO Prize Competition
The GoAERO Prize, sponsored by Boeing, is a three year competition (2024-2027) offering over $2 million USD in prizes that challenges engineers worldwide to create portable, versatile and autonomy-enabled Emergency Response Aircraft that address not only everyday medical emergencies but also to be used in natural disasters, humanitarian emergencies and climate crises worldwide. Each team designs and builds autonomous Emergency Response aircraft capable of delivering a first responder, medical equipment and supplies and ultimately evacuating victims in need to a rescue ambulance or hospital.

More than 150 teams from around the globe are competing for the GoAero prizes. The GoFly and GoAERO prizes were developed by Boeing and other organizations to help the nascent advanced air mobility (AAM) industry move forward.

Specifications:

• Aircraft type: Emergency rescue passenger eVTOL multicopter concept design
• Piloting: Autonomous
• Capacity: 1 passenger and medical equipment
• Cruise speed: Unknown
• Flight time: 21.5 minutes with a maximum payload weight of 57 kg (125 lb)
• Empty weight: 125 kg (200 lb)
• Maximum payload weight: 57 kg (125 lb)
• Propellers: 2 propellers (counter-rotating propellers which tilt in all directions)
• Electric motors: 2 electric motors, 60 kW each
• Power source: 4 Li-Ion battery packs, total weight 160 kg (350 lb)
• Fuselage: Carbon fiber composite
• Size of aircraft: 1.8288 m wide X 4.8768 m long (6 ft wide X 16 ft long)
• Window: Open stretcher-like platform with prone seating
• Landing gear: Fixed skid landing gear
• 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.

Related Aircraft:

• Bivect Air Air Rider (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:

• Bizapedia

Resources:

• Gary Robert Gres website
• Gary Robert Gress Facebook
• Gary Robert Gress YouTube
• Gary Robert Gress LinkedIn
• Article: GoAERO Global Emergency Response Flyer Competition Announces $500,000 of Awards to Innovators Worldwide with Support from Boeing, NASA, RTX, and Honeywell, GoAERO, Feb. 18, 2025
• Article: GoAERO Competition Promotes Creation of Automatic Lifesavers, Flying Magazine, Nov. 17, 2025
• Article: Meet the Teams: Team Bivect Air, GoAERO, Nov. 26, 2025
• Video: Tandem-propeller eVTOL flight at NB seashore, Gary Robert Gress, Dec. 3, 2025