The Consumer Technology Association’s CES 2018 (formerly known as the Consumer Electronics Show) took place Jan. 9–12, 2018, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Key themes at the largest technology exhibition in the world included the promise of 5G, smart cities, smart homes, vehicle technology, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, virtual reality and technologies for consumers’ increasingly connected lives.
Seventy-five years ago, the burgeoning helicopter industry came together to establish the American Helicopter Society, which was legally recognized on June 25, 1943. By that time, development teams at Bell and Piasecki had solved many of the basic problems of helicopter flight, joining Sikorsky to become the first successful American helicopter developers; Hiller made their first flight a year later.
In mid-December, Airbus Helicopters began testing the “iron bird” for its four-passenger CityAirbus quad-duct eVTOL in Taufkirchen, Germany. The test bench operates the entire electric propulsion system, developed by Airbus’ E-Aircraft Systems unit, from flight controls to the dynamic loads of the propellers, verifying the electrical, mechanical and thermal dynamics.
Single- and four-seat Autonomous Aerial Vehicle (AAV) designs are being developed by VIMANA Global, Inc. The AAVs have fore and aft tilting wings, each with four electric propellers powered by electric or hybrid-electric motors. VIMANA is an international company with headquarters in Redwood City, California, and offices in the United Arab Emirates, India, Singapore, Malaysia, and Russia.
Airspace Experience Technologies, LLC (AirSpaceX), a subsidiary of Detroit Aircraft Corp., unveiled a sub-scale model of the latest version of its autonomous, electric VTOL aircraft, "MOBi-ONE," at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit on Jan. 15.
In a CNN episode airing on Dec. 24, Fareed Zakaria interviewed Sebastian Thrun, CEO of Kitty Hawk/Zee Aero. Thrun unveiled the first public flight footage of the original eVTOL concept built and flown by Zee Aero in 2013.
Imagine a time in the not-too-distant future when unmanned vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft stealthily cross urban battlefields, while piloted versions easily navigate crowded cities and quietly touchdown in confined areas inaccessible to conventional helicopters or winged VTOL aircraft.
The motors that propel and control electric vertical flight pose design, integration and certification challenges.
The ARL Vehicle Technology Directorate is busy working on numerous vertical flight technology projects, and it’s looking out for new ideas from young scientists, collaborative regional campuses, and partners in academia and industry.
In 1997, Yoeli designed, built and flew AD&D’s Hummingbird ducted fan flying platform kit, which was powered by four Hirth piston engines. Yoeli placed a small advertisement for Hummingbird kit aircraft in the Experimental Aircraft Association’s Sport Aviation magazine for the kit.
