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Rescue Pack Rescue Pack AirCraft (concept design)

Rescue Pack AirCraft passenger rescue eVTOL multicopter aircraft (concept design)

(Image credit: Rescue Pack)

Rescue Pack AirCraft (concept design)
Rescue Pack
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
North Carolina State University
Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
www.mae.ncsu.edu

Undergraduate, masters and doctorate engineering students from the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA, have created a team called Rescue Pack. The team was created to participate in the GoAERO prize competition sponsored by Boeing. The name of the rescue aircraft is Rescue Pack AirCraft (RPAC). 

The team won the GoAERO Stage 1 and Stage 2 awards in 2025 and was one of 14 NASA University Innovation Award winners. The team's efforts will also help the nascent advance air mobility (AAM) industry to gain traction. The Rescue Pack team lead is Dr. Farhan Gandhi. The other team members are Evan Arnold, Ashutosh Chandravanshi, Weston Fong , Eve Fulton, Anubhav Halder, Koda Lemelin, Alexander Stillman and Jonah Whitt. 

The team's mission is to revolutionize emergency response by designing and building a rapid, fast, first on the scene, adaptable, efficient, heavy-lift, long-range and sustainable passenger rescue eVTOL aircraft for disaster relief and other medical emergencies. With the ultimate goal is to transform the future of disaster response and humanitarian aid.

Members of the team have seen problems with hurricanes when roads become blocked or communication lines are down and rescue teams can't reach those in need. The aircraft will need to be able to perform in other natural disasters such as wildfires and earthquakes where infrastructure damage and difficult terrain is encountered.

Rescue Pack AirCraft (RPAC) passenger rescue eVTOL multicopter aircraft (concept design)
The Rescue Pack AirCraft (RPAC) is an autonomous heavy-lift long-range passenger rescue eVTOL multicopter aircraft. According to the team, all aspects of creating the aircraft are critical for the success of the rescue aircraft. This not only includes the technology and materials used but also includes the design of the aircraft itself.

The multicopter has eight propellers, eight electric motors and is powered by battery packs. The multicopter has a projected maximum takeoff weight of 650 lb (295 kg) and will be able to carry a patient, medical supplies, equipment and other rescue supplies. The fuselage has a patient compartment that a stretcher fits comfortably. The fuselage is made from carbon fiber composite to give the aircraft a high strength to low weight ratio. The multicopter has fixed skid landing gear with shock absorbers.

The aircraft will also need to automatically navigate complex environments and make split-second decisions in critical situations. The team is planning to implement LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) for navigation, a particularly complex task given the speeds at which the flyer will operate and the need for three-dimensional awareness. One of the ways the team plans to complete the task of flight safety is by using advanced artificial intelligence (AI) integrated with the aircraft's avionics.

Rescue Pack AirCraft Subscale Prototype
Between the GoAero Stage 1 and Stage 2 challenge, the team advanced from a conceptual design to a 50 lb (23 kg) flying prototype. The subscale prototype helped the team to overcome real-world challenges like discovering electrical faults, debut sensor issues and the bridge the gap between simulation and real-world test flights. By implementing disciplined wiring checks, incremental testing, and structured tuning sessions, the team achieved stable takeoffs and landings, controlled hover and transitions to forward untethered flights beyond 100 feet (30.48 meters).

Rescue Pack AirCraft Full-Scale Prototype
Looking ahead to the GoAERO Stage 3 challenge, Rescue Pack will focus on developing their full-scale aircraft — a larger system with tighter tolerances and more demanding performance requirements. Their goal is to create an autonomous sustainable heavy-lift long-range passenger multi-role rescue eVTOL multicopter aircraft that will bridge the gap that traditional emergency response vehicles and aircraft can’t reach.

Rescue Pack On Fundraising, Marketing and FAA Regulations
The team has also noted that beside the technical and operational considerations, Rescue Pack will face significant business and development hurdles. Most team members have limited experience in fundraising and marketing, a skill set that is crucial for bringing GoAERO flyers to the market place. The team is aware that non-engineering aspects of designing and building a full-scale flyer, from project management to regulatory compliance, present their own unique challenges.

About the GoAERO Prize Competition
The GoAERO Prize, sponsored by Boeing, is a three year competition (2024-2027) offering over $2 million USD in prizes that challenges engineers worldwide to create portable, versatile and autonomy-enabled Emergency Response Aircraft that address not only everyday medical emergencies but also to be used in natural disasters, humanitarian emergencies and climate crises worldwide. Each team designs and builds autonomous Emergency Response aircraft capable of delivering a first responder, medical equipment and supplies and ultimately evacuating victims in need to a rescue ambulance or hospital.

More than 150 teams from around the globe are competing for the GoAero prizes. The GoFly and GoAERO prizes were developed by Boeing and other organizations to help the nascent advanced air mobility (AAM) industry move forward.

Specifications:

  • Aircraft type: Passenger rescue eVTOL multicopter aircraft (concept design)
  • Piloting: Autonomous
  • Capacity: 1 patient, medical supplies, equipment and other emergency air cargo
  • Cruise speed: Unknown
  • Maximum takeoff weight: 650 lb (295 kg)
  • Propellers: 8 propellers
  • Electric motors: 8 electric motors
  • Power source: Battery packs
  • Fuselage: Carbon fiber composite open framed aircraft
  • Cabin: Enclosed rectangular clear patient stretcher compartment
  • Landing gear: Fixed skid landing gear with shock absorbers
  • Safety features: Distributed Electric Propulsion (DEP) uses multiple propellers or electric ducted fans, each powered by electric motors, to increase safety through redundancy. If one or more components fail, the remaining ones can still ensure a safe landing. 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. The aircraft has no moving surfaces or tilting parts when transitioning from vertical to forward flight and the reverse which increases safety by reducing complexity.

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