Air Taxi

The world’s most efficient eVTOL is designed to travel non-stop for 800km+

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    The World’s Most Efficient eVTOL travels further using less energy. This aircraft will allow passengers to be able to bypass traffic congestion, and travel at high speed by air from any location with a landing pad. The unique structural and system design of Vertiia is well suited to both urban and regional passenger … Read more

Cyclogyro – a potential four-seater air taxi with the most agile propulsion system in aviation

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@cyclotech.at

Austrian-based CycloTech wants to prove the viability of the Voith-Schneider-Propeller concept for the aviation industry.

The core of the drive concept was established by Ernst Schneider and the Voith GmbH technology group nearly 100years ago, and patented as the Voith Schneider Propeller (VSP). The drive provides high maneuverability, and ships equipped with two or more VSP can move in nearly every direction or perform a stationary turn. Because of its agility and flexibility, there have been myriad unsuccessful attempts to bring the VSP to the aviation industry – but only CycloTech has succeeded.

CycloTech’s patented technology is currently the only Cyclogyro rotor concept worldwide that can rotate at high speed and efficiently deliver sufficient thrust for a truly competitive alternative aircraft propulsion.

The Cyclogyro technology combines the main benefits of rotorcraft and fixed-wing concepts and therefore its uniqueselling proposition (USP) has three main components:

  • VTOL (Vertical Take Off and Landing), and agile maneuverability;
  • Increased efficiency in forward flight mode;
  • Compact design and reduced infrastructure demand (for example in urban areas).

The major challenge of using the Cyclogyro rotor technology in air instead of water is the far higher revolutions perminute required to create sufficient thrust for aviation applications.

This results in extreme lightweight construction requirements for highly stressed rotor components and demands newconcepts, advanced composite material and innovative processing methods. CycloTech faced the challenge – andfound the solution. The Cyclogyro rotor technology is a clear ground-breaking innovation for VTOL and urban air mobility.

@cyclotech.at

GROUND-BREAKING INNOVATION FOR URBAN AIR MOBILITY

Over the last three years, CycloTech developed and tested nine different rotor prototypes. Comprehensive wind tunnel tests proved a significant performance increase in forward flight which has been predicted through the CFD simulations.

The current Cyclogyro rotors are now fully lightweight optimized and have passed all performance and endurance tests. They are ready for integration into a flight demonstrator.

The final proof of concept to elevate our development on Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 7 will be performed with a  flight demonstrator of approximately 80kg take-off weight equipped with 4 of Cyclotech’s Cyclogyro rotors.

“By Q4 2020 CycloTech will be ready to fly the demonstrator proving the agility and advantages of the technology. We also started the development of a Cyclogyro rotor as an auxiliary system of a high precision inspection drone for use in harsh and tight environments,” said the company.

CycloTech is “looking for co-operation partners” to help advance its technology, Hans-Georg Kinsky, CycloTech CEO told evtol.com, including moving forward from the concept design stage for the air taxi. The company has four granted and two pending patents on its technology and is currently in discussion on three others.

According to evtol, CycloTech is also talking to the Munich, Germany-based air taxi developer AutoFlightX about how its rotors might be used in the company’s design. A further potential application is a compound helicopter; CycloTech has a patent for a design with two laterally placed Cyclogyro motors replacing the conventional tail rotor.

@cyclotech.at

Self-flying: Quadcopter drone market player laying solid foundation for urban air mobility

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The autonomous passenger aircrafts of the future can contribute to more efficient transport, particularly in urban areas, and the electric models are a great contribution to the green shift. The autonomous Ehang 216 is paving the way for eVTOL air-taxi flights.

@ehang.com

EHang, one of the world’s leading autonomous aerial vehicle (AAV) technology platforms, is laying a solid foundation for
future urban air mobility (UAM) operations.

Self-flying EHang 216 Showcases Aerial Sightseeing Trips Over the Sea in East China

EHang 216 announced aerial sightseeing trial flights in Yantai, a coastal city in East China. An EHang 216 took four passengers to the air for aerial sightseeing trips over the sea around the beautiful Fisherman’s Wharf in Yantai city, one of the many AAAA national tourist attractions locations throughout China.

This trial flight event was part of EHang’s world flight tour, which is aimed to demonstrate the reliability and versatility of its passenger-grade AAVs through safe autonomous flights in various commercial use cases, including passenger transportation, aerial sightseeing, air logistics, medical emergency response, etc. EHang’s passenger-grade AAVs have completed thousands of trial and demo flights in 21 cities and 6 countries, including China, the U.S., Austria, Netherlands, Qatar and UAE.

@ehang.com

Air taxis are expected to help solve traffic problems in cities by using airspace as a “third dimension”. Newly developed, environmentally-friendly electric drives, high-performance batteries with short charging times, minimal space requirements for take-off and landing areas, fast computers and big data create the necessary conditions for tackling urban air mobility concepts within and between cities. In addition to transporting people or goods, autonomous aircraft offer numerous other applications such as flights to transport urgent emergency goods or high-risk operations from the air in the event of environmental catastrophes. The market potential is very promising: According to a study by Roland Berger, there is a demand for air taxis worth EUR 32 billion over the next decade.

EHang’s Founder, Chairman and CEO, Hu Huazhi said, “As the world’s first provider of passenger-grade AAVs, we are honored to prove this game-changing air mobility solution by demonstrating flights to regulators, customers, partners and the general public. The positive supports and feedback have stregthened our determination in our quest to bring this new style of mobility to the people.”

@ehang.com
@ehang.com

UAE, New Zealand, and Singapore expected to be the first adopters of air taxis. Study

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    Air Taxi Services are Expected to Commence in 2022 in Dubai and Expand Gradually at a 45.9% CAGR and Reach at Least 430,000 Units in Operation Globally by 2040. With the increase in the number of UAM vehicles, there will be a range of growth opportunities for support services such as pilot training, … Read more

Flying cars. The luxe edition by Porsche and Boeing’s Aurora

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  Porsche is teaming up with Boeing to bring a sports car to the sky. As Detlev von Platen, Member of the Executive Board for Sales and Marketing at Porsche AG said, Porsche is moving into the third dimension of travel. The high-end automotive maker is looking to enhance its scope as a sports car … Read more

Experiencing what Urban Air Mobility of tomorrow will feel like

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    Never before have people been this close to experiencing what Urban Air Mobility of tomorrow will feel like. A number of companies around the world are building urban air mobility businesses with the aim to bring affordable air taxi services to megacities worldwide. With the VoloCity, Volocopter, a pioneer in Urban Air Mobility … Read more