• 25 Feb 2021 05:06 PM
• 0

COMAC eVTOL Concepts Revealed

The Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) has unveiled three lift-plus-cruise eVTOL aircraft prototypes. The company’s hybrid-electric VTOL project was started in 2019 and the company’s Beijing Civil Aircraft Technology Research Center (BCATRC) has built two prototypes. The first prototype is the ET120 half-scale demonstrator, shown by during the 2020 Online E-Flight-Forum (organized by Flying-Pages.com) on Dec. 9. It had reportedly already made than 30 flights as of a Jan. 9 press release when COMAC announced its ET480 full-scale demonstrator (shown). Both aircraft have eight lift propellers and a rear pusher propeller for forward flight. 

In addition, COMAC’s Shanghai Aircraft Design and Research Institute (SADRI) unveiled a sub-scale model of a cargo eVTOL design in late December, according to Flying-Pages.com. The model had a diamond arrangement of joined tandem wings with a wide opening at the rear for quick loading/unloading of the modular cargo pod underneath. It completed its initial electric conventional takeoff and landing (eCTOL) test flight and was beginning its eVTOL test.