Trek Aerospace FlyKart 2

FlyKart 2
Trek Aerospace
Folsom, California, USA
www.trekaero.com

Founded in 1999, Trek Aerospace, Inc. is a small engineering company based in Folsom, California, USA. The company has designed and made multiple vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft including its exoskeleton jetpacks using shrouded propellers in the airframe design. The company has also designed and made watercraft. Trek Aerospace also assists companies in the design, fabrication, and licensing of projects involving shrouded propellers and/or autonomous control systems.

The company states their core technology has the highest thrust to hp/kw in the industry. This allows their aircraft to carry a lot of weight in a smaller footprint. Trek’s shrouded props require less power, use fewer batteries than other battery powered aircraft, have a greater payload and have a farther range.

FlyKart 2 is a single-seat, open-cockpit, 10-rotor, ducted fan, electrically-powered, eVTOL (all-electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing) aircraft. Trek Aerospace has entered the GoFly Prize competition.

Four iterations of the craft were built for the competition, referred to as the FlyKart 2.1-2.4. All iterations use ducted fan propellers: a staple of Trek Aerospace's designs. As the aircraft matured, it experienced an increase in power and massive reduction in empty and airframe weight. This is due both to the reduction of ducts on the aircraft and the replacement of aluminum components with those made of carbon fiber. The FlyKart 2 also utilizes shrouded propellers, which reduces the noise generated by the craft while increasing pilot safety and thrust generated.

On March 26, 2019 GoFly Prize announced that Trek Aerospace completed Phase II of the GoFly challenge and will receive $50,000.00 USD in prizes. While the team had planned to participate in the February 2020 GoFly Fly Off, an electronic speed controller fire rendered FlyKart 2.3 inoperable. The team was still present at Moffet Field with the FlyKart 2.4.

Specifications:

• Aircraft type: eVTOL passenger aircraft
• Cruise speed: 83 km/h (52 mph)
• Maximum speed: 102 km/h (63 mph)
• Flight time: 30+ minutes
• Width: 2 m (6-1/2 ft)
• Length: 1.95 m (6.2 ft)
• Height: 1.2 m (3.9 ft)
• Propellers: 12 propellers
• Electric motors: 12 electric motors (5.6- kW)
• Power source: 9.6 kWh battery packs
• Cockpit: Open cockpit
• Landing gear: Fixed quadricycle wheeled landing gear
• Safety Features: Redundant propulsion/battery/auto-pilot, screened propellers, 4-point safety harness

Resources:

• Trek Aerospace website
• Trek Aerospace Twitter
• Trek Aerospace LinkedIn
• Trek Aerospace Wikipedia
• GoFly Prize website
• Video: FlyKart Prototype One - Maiden Flight Testing, Joshua Portlock, May 20, 2016
• Article: AHS Supports GoFly!, Vertiflite, Nov/Dec 2017
• News Release: GoFly Winners, GoFly, Jun. 14, 2018
• Article: Boeing’s $2 Million Challenge to Make the Sky Fun Again—With ‘Flying Motorbikes’, Wired, Jun. 14, 2018
• Article: Boeing Asked for Quiet Jetpacks and Got a Bunch of Air Motorcycles, Bloomberg, Jun. 14, 2018
• Article: Contest Aims to Lift Personal Flying Machines Off the Page, The New York Times, Jun. 14, 2018
• Article: Here are the Finalists for Boeing’s $2 million ‘Personal Flying Device’ Contest, The Verge, Jun. 14, 2018
• Article: Meet the Mad Geniuses Building Personal Flying Machines, Fast Company, Jun. 14, 2018
• Article: GoFly Enters Phase II, Vertiflite, July/August 2018
• Article: GoFly Hits 40, evtol.news, Feb. 6, 2019
• News Release: Meet the 5 Winners Of GoFly Phase II, GoFly Prize, Mar. 26, 2019
• Video: GoFly Prize: Announcing the Phase II Winners, Mar. 26, 2019
• Article: Oshkosh e-AirVenture, Vertiflite, Sep/Oct 2019
• Article: Flying Solo: GoFly Advances Single-Passenger Air Mobility Solutions, Vertiflite, May/June 2019
• Article: GoFly Inspires Innovation, Vertiflite, May/June 2020
• Article: GoFly Teams Prepare to Fly Again, Vertiflite, Nov/Dec 2020