The Kitty Hawk engineering team is led by Dr. Todd Reichert (aerodynamics) and Cameron Robertson (structures).
While graduate students at the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies (UTIAS) in Canada, Reichert and Robertson worked with Dr. James DeLaurier on the engine-powered “Big Flapper” ornithopter — an aircraft that generates thrust by flapping its wings like a bird, rather than using a propeller.
It’s a long way from the windy sand dunes of the Outer Banks of North Carolina to the San Francisco Bay, but the aviation adventure that the Wright brothers launched near Kitty Hawk in 1903 now continues with new electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft being developed by Silicon Valley startups.
Unprecedented earthquakes, fires, hurricanes, flooding and other natural disasters filled the news over the past several months. Equally prevalent were stories of vertical flight aircraft saving lives, protecting property and providing support after infrastructure was destroyed.
Airbus Helicopters announced that its four-seat, quad-ducted propeller eVTOL, the CityAirbus, was getting close to its maiden flight planned for late 2018.
Germany’s Volocopter (previously known as “e-volo”) conducted the first public flight of its VC200 in Dubai on Sept. 25 (shown). Flight testing of the prototype for Volocopter’s 2X two-seat production vehicle will “be used for the world’s first self-flying taxi service set to be introduced” by Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA).
In early September, Munich-based Lilium announced that it had raised $90M in a Series B funding round. Investors included Chinese tech giant Tencent; private banking and asset management firm LGT; U.K.-based venture capitalist firm Atomico (a Series A investor); and Obvious Ventures.
On Aug 28, the company Passenger Drone announced that it had been working in “stealth mode” on a two-seat distributed electric VTOL aircraft: “For the past three years, Passenger Drone has been developing a zero-emissions, easy-to-use passenger drone that has the potential to eliminate stressful commutes.
On Sept. 26, Gwen Lighter, CEO of the GoFly Prize Group, LLC, announced a global competition to encourage innovators to create safe and easy-to-use personal flying devices.
AHS is proud to kick off its original series of eVTOL News videos! Episode 1: "Kitty Hawk Flyer Demo" is an interview with Kitty Hawk's director of engineering, Dr. Todd Reichert (of Aerovelo fame), and includes clips from the first public flight on July 28, 2017 at EAA AirVenture 2017 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
From Vertiflite, Nov/Dec 2017
The Promises and Challenges of Electric Vertical Flight
