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Embry-Riddle Talon Lift Talon (concept design)

TALON passenger rescue eVTOL multicopter aircraft (concept design)

(Image credit: Talon Lift)

Talon (concept design)
Talon Lift
Eagle Flight Research Center
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Daytona Beach, Florida, United States of America
www.erau.edu

Founded in 1926, Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University is a private university based in Daytona Beach, Florida, and in Prescott, Arizona, United States. The university has courses in aviation, aerospace, applied sciences, business, computers & technology, engineering, and security, intelligence & safety and more. Embry-Riddle has numerous academic programs offered online at many satellite locations.

The Talon Lift team is under the umbrella of the Eagle Flight Research Center at Embry-Riddle in Daytona Beach for the GoAERO prize. The Talon Lift team is a GoAERO Stage 1 award winner in 2025 and was one of 14 NASA University Innovation Award winners.

A team member who is a mountain trekker and skier realized that a high-altitude emergency rescue with bad weather or a rescue needed in an area too complex for helicopters, needs a more advanced rescue aircraft for these difficult to reach rescue zones. The team members all acknowledge there are considerable challenges to make this type of rescue aircraft, the biggest of which is system integration. To successfully design the aircraft, the team is using rapid development, testing, learning and refining. This approach allows for an expedited learning curve, prompt bug-fixing and fast improvement. Their goal is to reduce the complexity of the vehicle using advanced technology that will achieve all rescue aircraft objectives and reduce typical aircraft failure points.

TALON (Technology for Airborne Lifesaving and Operational Needs) passenger rescue eVTOL multicopter aircraft (concept design)
The TALON (Technology for Airborne Lifesaving and Operational Needs) is an autonomous one passenger rescue eVTOL multicopter aircraft. The multicopter can hold one paramedic (or rescue team member), medical equipment and medicine when flying to a rescue zone. Once the victim is stabilized at the scene, the rescue multicopter will fly the victim to a waiting ambulance or a hospital. The multicopter can be flown back to where the paramedic is and fly them back to safety.

The aircraft has four propellers, four electric motors and uses battery packs to power the aircraft. The estimated maximum payload weight for the aircraft is approximately 300 lb (136 kg). The fuselage is rectangular and can hold a standard stretcher inside the cabin. When a paramedic flies to the rescue zone, the paramedic lies in a prone position during the flight. The fuselage is made from carbon fiber composite to give the aircraft a high strength to low weight ratio. The team is working on a quadricycle independently self-adjusting robotic strut landing gear system.

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 paramedic or 1 patient and medical equipment and medicine
  • Cruise speed: ~40-50 mph (~64-80 km/h)
  • Maximum payload weight: ~300 lb (~136 kg)
  • Propellers: 4 propellers
  • Electric motors: 4 electric motors
  • Power source: Battery packs
  • Fuselage: Carbon fiber composite
  • Cabin: The passenger compartment holds a standard stretcher
  • Landing gear: Quadricycle independently self-adjusting robotic strut landing gear system
  • 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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