Trek Aerospace Tyrannos (concept design)

(Image credit: Trek Aerospace)

Tyrannos (concept design)
Trek Aerospace, Inc.
Folsom, California, USA
www.trekaero.com

Trek Aerospace, Inc. is a small engineering company based in Folsom, California, USA. Founded on March 18, 1996 as “Millennium Jet, Inc.”, the company changed their name to Trek Aerospace on July 3, 2002 because people thought the company was building jets. To clarify, SoloTrek was a name for certain models of Trek Aerospace's aircraft. SoloTrek was never the name of the company. The company is dedicated to understanding and improving shrouded propeller performance and efficiency. In the process, they developed their own proprietary CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) software, TASPA (Trek Aerospace Shrouded Propeller Analysis).

The company has stated all of their aircraft designs are very flexible when it comes to scalability, electric motors used, propeller types and the type of power source used. That is, all previous conventionally powered aircraft the company has created can be converted to eVTOL aircraft and can be updated with the latest in avionics, electronics, propellers and electric (all batteries or hybrid-electric) power sources. All of the company's aircraft have been designed for advanced air mobility (AAM).

The company has designed and made multiple vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft including its exoskeleton backpack "helicopters" using shrouded propellers in the airframe design. Some articles refer to the exoskeleton backpack helicopter as a jetpack, even though there are no jet engines involved in the backpack aircraft. The company has also designed and made watercraft. Trek Aerospace also assists and teams with other companies, large and small, in the design, fabrication, and licensing of projects involving shrouded propellers and/or autonomous control systems. For example, Trek Aerospace built XTI Aircraft Company's TriFan subscale proof of concept (POC) aircraft.

Trek Aerospace Shrouded Propeller Analysis
Testing at NASA and university wind tunnels has validated the accuracy of the Trek Aerospace Shrouded Propeller Analysis (TASPA). Flight testing of both crewed and uncrewed vehicles has further verified the real-world applications of Trek’s technology. The company states their core technology has the highest specific thrust (lb/kW) in the industry. Aircraft designed by Trek define the efficiency curve used in the UBER Elevate white paper.

This efficiency allows aircraft to carry more weight in a smaller footprint. According to the company, their shrouded propellers require less power, use fewer batteries, have a greater payload and have a farther range than other battery powered aircraft. Furthermore, the company states their shrouded propellers have outperformed similar free propellers to airspeeds in excess of 230 mph (371 km/h), negating much of the drag penalty associated with ducted propellers.

Tyrannos crewed hybrid-electric ground/air military concept design vehicle
The Tyrannos is a four troop hybrid-electric VTOL ground/air military concept design vehicle. On April 12, 2010, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) issued BAA-10-52, the Transformer (TX) Program, and called for a combat military VTOL Roadable Air Vehicle. The purpose for this vehicle was to supply ground troops without helicopter support, a vehicle that could transform into an aircraft, if the troops felt threatened by ground ambushes or improvised explosive devices (IEDs). The vehicle could also be used to effectively travel into and out of areas without roads. Broad Agency Announcement (BAA).

Additional DARPA Transformer (TX) Program Details
In 2009, DARPA's original name for the program was the Transformer (TX) Program. DARPA wanted a military ground vehicle that could transform into a vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft and carry four troops. The DARPA program name was eventually changed to the Aerial Reconfigurable Embedded System (ARES). The ground/air vehicle, at a later date, specified to have detachable modules such as a troop module, cargo module, casualty evacuation (CASEVAC) module, and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) module.

The original DARPA BAA-10-52 specified four troop carrier (fully equipped military personnel), with a maximum payload capacity of 1,000 pounds (454 kilograms), have a combat range of 288 miles (463 kilometers) on a single tank of JP-8 fuel and has a vertical take-off and landing capability. On the ground, the vehicle specified 4×4 road capability and have a cruise at altitudes of up to 10,000 feet (3,048 meters). The vehicle was to be less than 30 feet (9.144 m) in length.

Trek Aerospace participated with three different teams on their proposals. Those teams were led by Boeing (USA), Fleck Corp (Germany), and Logi Aerospace (USA). For the first two teams, Trek supplied basic ducted propeller analysis. For the last team, Trek supplied most of the airframe design and performance analysis.

Tyrannos Details
For flight, the Tyrannos has an estimated cruise speed of 155 mph (km/h), has a predicted range 287 miles (462 kilometers) and has a targeted cruise altitude of 10,000 feet (3,048 meters). The ground specifications includes a cruise speed of 57 mph (km/h) and has an anticipated range of 678 miles (1,091 kilometers). The aircraft has one high wing with ducted propellers at the very end of each wing. There is one ducted propeller-in-fuselage at the nose of the aircraft and has one rear ducted-propeller between wing mounted fins. The aircraft is powered by a hybrid-electric 185 hp supercharged racing engine using JP-8 fuel, with battery packs (10.5 kW-hr).

The calculated empty weight is 1,793 lb (813 kg), the projected maximum payload weight is 1,207 lb (548 kg) and the targeted maximum takeoff weight is 3,000 lb (1,361 kg). The fuselage is made from carbon fiber composite to give the aircraft a high strength to low weight ratio. The landing gear is four road tires.

A prototype was never made.

Specifications:

• Aircraft type: Passenger hybrid-electric VTOL ground/air military concept design vehicle
• Piloting: 1 military pilot
• Capacity: 3 troops. (Later, the ground/air vehicle was designed to accept modules made for multiple types of military missions.)
• Cruise speed (air): 155 mph ( km/h)
• Cruise speed (ground): 57 mph (km/h)
• Range (air): 287 m (462 km)
• Range (ground): 678 m (1,091 km)
• Cruise altitude: 10,000 ft (3,048 m)
• Maximum altitude: 14,000 ft (4,267 m)
• Empty weight: 1,793 lb (813 kg)
• Maximum payload weight: 1,207 lb (548 kg)
• Maximum takeoff weight: 3,000 lb (1,361 kg)
• Propellers: 4 tilting-ducted propellers
• Electric Motors: 4 electric motors (130 kW) for the propellers, 4 electric motors (22 kW) for the ground wheels
• Power source: Hybrid-electric 185 hp supercharged racing engine using JP-8 fuel (16 gallons), with battery packs (10.5 kW-hr)
• Fuselage: Carbon fiber composite
• Windows: Windows similar to a midsize car
• Wings: 1 high wing (wing folds for storage)
• Tail: 2 rear wing mounted fins
• Landing gear: 4 road tires (4 fixed quadricycle road tires)
• Safety features: Distributed Electric Propulsion (DEP), provides safety through redundancy for its passengers and/or cargo. DEP means having multiple propellers (or ducted fans) and motors on the aircraft so if one or more propellers (ducted fans) or motors fail, the other working propellers (or ducted fans) and motors can safely land the aircraft. There are also redundancies in the sub-systems of the aircraft. If the aircraft loses power to its propellers, the aircraft can glide and land safely if there is a road or flat field.

Related Aircraft:

• Trek Aerospace Dragonfly (prototype)
• Trek Aerospace DuoTrek 1.0 (concept design)
• Trek Aerospace DuoTrek 2.0 (concept design)
• Trek Aerospace Elesi (concept design)
• Trek Aerospace FlyKart 1 (prototype)
• Trek Aerospace FlyKart 2 (prototype)
• Trek Aerospace FlyKart 3 (prototype)
• Trek Aerospace LogDrone (concept design)
• Trek Aerospace Mule (concept design)
• Trek Aerospace Nightingale (concept design)
• Trek Aerospace Nytngale (concept design)
• Trek Aerospace OAV-II (concept design)
• Trek Aerospace OVIWUN (production model)
• Trek Aerospace Scorpion (concept design)
• Trek Aerospace SoloTrek Springtail EFV (prototype)
• Trek Aerospace SoloTrek XFV (prototype)
• Trek Aerospace SoloTrek XFVC (concept design)
• Trek Aerospace SoloTrek XFVM (concept design)
• Trek Aerospace TERN (concept design)

Company Insights:

• Crunchbase

Resources:

• Trek Aerospace website
• Trek Aerospace Twitter
• Trek Aerospace LinkedIn
• Trek Aerospace Wikipedia
• Aerial Reconfigurable Embedded System Wikipedia
• Article: DARPA Kicks Off Transformer (TX) Program, Defence Talk, Oct. 14, 2010
• Article: The Transformer TX, War History, Jan. 15, 2016