News

The Demand for On-Demand Mobility

• 01 Jan 2017 09:47 PM
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The hurdles are high and there is ample reason for skepticism, but tech entrepreneurs are pushing electric aircraft ideas that could lead to a new era for vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, aka VTOLs (pronounced VEE-talls). The latest entrant is Uber Technologies, the $68B cell phone app rent-a-ride provider, which recently announced it will invest in and promote “on-demand aviation.” Uber’s vision — shared by a growing number of aviation experts — is to use electric-powered VTOL (e-VTOL) aircraft as “air taxis” to revolutionize transport in and around big cities.

3rd Transformative Workshop is Huge Success

• 01 Nov 2016 05:54 PM
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The third annual Joint Workshop on Transformative Vertical Flight Concepts, with the subtitle of “Enabling New Flight Concepts through Novel Propulsion and Energy Architectures,” was held on Sept. 29-30 in Hartford, Connecticut. The workshop series has brought together vehicle developers, technology companies, government scientists and regulators, investors, and potential electric VTOL customers/operators

Lift Where You Need It

• 01 Nov 2016 10:36 AM
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With rotors, ducted fans and other lift devices powered through wires, Distributed Electric Propulsion (DEP) can change the shape and performance of vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft of many sizes. Advanced Aircraft Company’s (AAC) 36 lb (16.3 kg) Hercules unmanned aircraft system (UAS) has a hybrid-power gasoline engine and generator set driving eight outrigger motors with propellers for hover and forward flight.

Uber Elevate White Paper (Oct 2016)

• 27 Oct 2016 05:45 PM
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On Oct 27, 2016, Uber released its landmark Uber Elevate White Paper: Fast-Forwarding to a Future of On-Demand Urban Air Transportation." AHS — The Vertical Flight Society consulted on the white paper and is cited on page 9 under "Contributors and Reviewers."

Uber Announcement on Electric VTOL

• 29 Sep 2016 10:26 AM
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During the AHS-sponsored reception, Nikhil Goel, a product manager of special projects at Uber Technologies, commented on Uber's plans for moving urban transportation to the skies with electric VTOL. A transcription follows:

At Uber, we are super obsessed with cities, improving cities, unlocking their immense value through urban mobility.And to us urban mobility means a couple of things. One, it means cutting congestion. It means eliminating parking, which can take up to a third of urban real estate, and dramatically reducing pollution.

Uber Joins Race for VTOL

• 25 Sep 2016 10:24 AM
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In an onstage interview with me today at the Nantucket Conference, Uber products head Jeff Holden said the fast-growing ride sharing company was seriously looking at a new form of transportation to offer its customers: Short-haul flying in cities.

German Ultralight VTOL Innovations

• 01 Sep 2016 04:11 PM
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The German aerospace industry has enjoyed global success and recognition in design and innovation over the decades.

One prime example is the Airbus Helicopters-legacy Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm (MBB) Bo 105 light, twin-engine helicopter. This had one of the world’s first rigid rotor designs, and formed the backbone of the parapublic marketplace globally for more than forty years — reaching a landmark eight million flight hours in 2014.

A Small LightningStrike

• 01 Jul 2016 03:20 PM
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As described in the last issue of Vertiflite (“Lightning Strikes Aurora”), after four-and-a-half years of development, the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) awarded Aurora Flight Sciences an $89.4M contract to develop, build and flight test its VTOL X-Plane. Aurora’s LightningStrike uses a distributed hybrid-electric propulsion system: a Rolls-Royce AE 1107C turboshaft (the same T406 engine as used in the V-22 Osprey) drives three Honeywell 1 MW (1,340 hp) generators through a gearbox (more than 10 kA — enough to power a home subdivision); the generators in turn power 24 electric motors, driving constant speed, variable pitch fans (18 on the wing and six on the canards). Both the wing and canard tilt for vertical takeoff and landing.

Lightning Strikes Aurora

• 01 May 2016 02:59 PM
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The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) announced on March 3 [2016] that it had selected Aurora Flight Sciences to continue on in the DARPA VTOL X-Plane program. The company was awarded an $89.4M contract for Phases 2 (development) and 3 (flight test) for its LightningStrike hybrid-electric concept.

Commentary: The Tesla of Vertical Flight?

• 01 May 2016 02:44 PM
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The past two months have been a turning point in electric-powered transportation.

On March 31, Tesla Motors unveiled the all-electric Tesla Model 3 five-seat compact sedan, starting at a base price of $35,000. Tesla, which shipped 50,000 cars worldwide in 2015, expects to sell more than 80,000 in 2016, but the first Model 3 cars aren’t expected to arrive until the end of 2017.