Boeing Cargo Air Vehicle IT1 (concept design)

Cargo Air Vehicle IT1 (concept design)
The Boeing Company
Chicago, Illinois, USA
www.boeing.com

The Boeing Company was founded in 1916 in Seattle Washington, USA. Currently, Boeing's headquarters is located in Crystal City, Virginia, USA. Boeing is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites and missiles worldwide. The company began designing and making an air cargo heavy-lift electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft for advanced air mobility (AAM). In a statement, Boeing said "The innovative platform is designed to test and evolve Boeing’s autonomy technology for future aerospace vehicles." (Image credit: Boeing)

The Cargo Air Vehicle team has made multiple prototypes from several small drones to making at least two large heavy-lift air cargo prototype drones. The Cargo Air Vehicle CV1 prototype and was built in three months. The first flight tests of the Boeing Air Cargo Vehicle prototypes began in 2017. The initial prototype flight testing was completed in 2018 which included taking off and landing in Boeing's Ridley Park wind tunnel (Pennsylvania, USA). Boeing debuted the first subscale model of the CAV multicopter at the 2018 Farnborough International Airshow (United Kingdom). The CAV2 completed over 150 flight tests in 2019 and depending on the weather, the aircraft flew up to seven times a day. "The technology opens up new possibilities for delivering time-sensitive and high-value goods, conducting autonomous missions in remote or dangerous environments, and other applications," the company has stated.

Cargo Air Vehicle (IT1) heavy-lift air cargo eVTOL concept design multicopter aircraft
The Cargo Air Vehicle (IT1) is an autonomous heavy-lift air cargo eVTOL concept design multicopter aircraft. Boeing has not made any comments on how the cargo is loaded onto the aircraft and therefore, the air cargo could be loaded from the front, back or from both the front and back of the aircraft. The aircraft is a modern design with an tear-drop shaped fuselage (with flat sides), has one main high wing with two booms formed into the wing which are parallel to the fuselage. (IT1 or Iteration 1, is a designation we had to give the aircraft to distinguish it from other Boeing heavy-lift air cargo eVTOL concept design aircraft.)

Boeing has not revealed many specifications of the multicopter prototype such as cruise speed, cruise altitude, range or the flight time of the aircraft. The company did reveal the target maximum payload weight of aircraft will be 500 lb (227 kg). The aircraft boasts six pairs of stacked counter-rotating propellers (12 propellers), 12 electric motors and battery packs made in-house by Boeing engineers. Six pairs of stacked propellers are located on two parallel booms (to the fuselage) and two pairs of stacked propellers are located at each wing tip.

The aircraft has one main high wing and the entire fuselage, wing, boom and landing struts are made from carbon fiber composite material for a high strength to low weight ratio. The aircraft has four fixed landing struts. For safety, the aircraft uses distributed electric propulsion (DEP) which means having multiple propellers and multiple electric motors on an aircraft so if one or more propellers or some electric motors fail, the other working propellers and electric motors can safely land the aircraft.

Future
As of May 2024, there has been no announcement by Boeing of an anticipated year for the production and sales of this aircraft.

Specifications:

• Aircraft type: Heavy-lift eVTOL air cargo prototype drone
• Piloting: Autonomous piloting
• Capacity: Air cargo only, loading from the front (possibly)
• Cruise speed: Unknown
• Empty weight: Unknown
• Maximum payload weight: 500 lb (227 kg)
• Propellers: 12 propellers (6 pairs of stacked propellers) located on two parallel booms (to the fuselage) and at the wing tips
• Electric motors: 12 electric motors
• Power source: In-house made battery packs
• Fuselage: Carbon fiber composite
• Wings: 1 main high wing with two parallel booms to the fuselage
• Landing gear: 4 fixed landing struts
• Safety features: Distributed Electric Propulsion (DEP) means having multiple propellers (or electric ducted fans) and multiple electric motors on an aircraft so if one or more propellers (or electric ducted fans) or some electric motors fail, the other working propellers (or electric ducted fans) and electric motors can safely land the aircraft. DEP provides safety through redundancy for passengers or cargo. 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. To ensure safe flight operations, the CAV always flies within designated airspace and it is equipped with automated safety features that can command it to land.

Related Aircraft:

• Aurora Flight Sciences (Boeing) Pegasus PAV (prototype)
• Aurora Flight Sciences (Boeing) XV-24 LightningStrike (defunct)
• Boeing Cargo Air Vehicle CV1 (prototype)
• Boeing Cargo Air Vehicle CV2 (prototype)
• Boeing Cargo Air Vehicle IT2 (concept design)
• Porsche Boeing Unnamed J2 (concept design)
• Porsche Boeing Unnamed T2 (concept design)
• Porsche Boeing Unnamed III (concept design)

Company Insights:

• Crunchbase
• MarketWatch
• Pitchbook
• Tracxn

Resources:

• The Boeing Company website
• Boeing Cargo Air Vehicle web page
• Boeing Urban Air Mobility Concept Of Operations web page
• Boeing Future Of Flight website
• Boeing Cargo Air Vehicle Wikipedia
• The Boeing Company Facebook
• The Boeing Company X (formerly Twitter)
• The Boeing Company YouTube Channel
• The Boeing Company Instagram
• The Boeing Company LinkedIn
• Video: Boeing's New Autonomous Air Vehicle Prototype, Boeing, Jan. 10, 2018
• Article: Boeing Unveils New Unmanned Cargo Air Vehicle Prototype, Boeing, Jan. 10, 2018
• Article: Boeing unveils unmanned air cargo prototype designed to carry up to 500 pounds, GeekWire, Jan. 10, 2018
• Article: Boeing's Experimental Cargo Drone Is a Heavy Lifter, Wired, Jan. 14, 2018
• Article: Boeing reveals heavy lift drone development, The Manufacturer, Jan. 16, 2018
• Video: Bringing Flight Closer to Home: Boeing's Future of Travel and Transport, Boeing, July 17, 2018
• Article: Boeing Exploring Autonomy, LIDAR in Future Air Cargo Aircraft, Avionics International, July 24, 2018
• Article: Boeing Registers "CV2" eVTOL, Electric VTOL News, Sept. 3, 2018
• Article: Boeing unveils prototype unmanned cargo air vehicle, Air Cargo News, Nov. 1, 2018
• Article: Boeing CAV Flies Free, Electric VTOL News, June 30, 2019
• Article: Boeing Moves Forward With CAV, Electric VTOL News, Nov. 4, 2019