Stirling Dynamics’ Post

Unfortunately, Vertical Aerospace has opted not to fly its new VX4 prototype at the forthcoming Farnborough air show. While it’s clearly disappointing for Vertical – and, to be honest, I was quite looking forward to seeing the VX4 fly too – it was always going to be a race against time to get the second prototype airborne and flying in a meaningful way before the show rolled around. And dull as it sounds, it’s probably a sensible, pragmatic decision for Vertical to concentrate on flight testing rather than ‘wasting’ almost a fortnight with Farnborough faff. After all, it has more pressing milestones to reach such as certification and unlocking further investment, which flight testing can only expedite. https://lnkd.in/e-zfJ76r

Two things stand out immediately. 1 - It assumes a human pilot is in control. Thank you for learning from the autonomous vehicle experiments. 2 - The tilt rotors are located away from the wings. A problem with the Osprey is that the rotors are directly over the wings, meaning that in helicopter mode, it is actually working against itself, the downward wind from the rotor pushing directly down on the wing. This was solved by making the engines bigger - sort of a bigger hammer approach. This design appears to avoid that whole issue by mounting engines away from wings.

Scaled Composites completes the first flight of the Model 437 Vanguard, a versatile, low-cost, multi-mission aircraft concept

Have you ever wondered what the cockpit of a Gulfstream Aerospace business jet is like? Here's a video walkthrough of the G600's touchscreen Symmetry flight deck. This is the same system as the G500 and new G700. https://lnkd.in/ePZSWGMH #aviation #technology #Airplane

Why is the Racer innovative ? Some answers in this video.

Key Points & Video about the XQ-67A Demonstrator AFRL &  General Atomics  📐First Successful Flight: The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) successfully flew the first of the second generation of Autonomous Collaborative Platforms (ACP), known as the XQ-67A demonstrator, on February 28, 2024. 📐OBSS Program: The flight was part of the Off-Board Sensing Station (OBSS) program, which focuses on validating the design, build, and test processes for the XQ-67A. 📐Common Chassis Design: The XQ-67A is built on a common chassis, or genus, similar to a motor vehicle frame. This design approach has been proven successful with its first flight. 📐Efficiency and Cost-Effectiveness: The common chassis design enables faster and more cost-effective replication of the aircraft. 📐Response to Great Power Competition: This new approach addresses the challenge of great power competition by delivering advanced, affordable capabilities to warfighters more quickly. 📐AFRL's Mission: AFRL aims to provide advanced technologies that lead to reliable, effective, and integrated capabilities for the nation's warfighters, both now and in the future. 📐Development Timeline: The XQ-67A was designed, built, ground tested, and flown in just over two years, building on the success of the XQ-58A Valkyrie and complementing the X-62 VISTA and F-16 VENOM efforts. 📐Flight Testing: AFRL's flight testing initiatives aim to deliver science and technology quickly through agile and continuous development. 📐Autonomous Flight Capability: While the XQ-67A is remotely piloted, it is also capable of autonomous flight. 📐LCAAPS Program: Under the Low Cost Attritable Aircraft Platform Sharing (LCAAPS) program, AFRL developed a chassis or "genus" as the foundational core architecture for building various "species" of aircraft. 📐Product Line Philosophy: This approach provides an alternate acquisition strategy for ACP aircraft, enabling faster development, lower costs, and frequent technology updates. To view a video of the first test flight of the XQ-67A, which took place at the General Atomics Gray Butte Flight Operations Facility near Palmdale, California, see YOUTUBE LINK Below... #WingedMonkeys #AFRL #GeneralAtomics

If you haven't yet seen the debut of S-A2, check out Supernal's latest eVTOL vehicle product concept design. Congratulations to our friends over at Supernal for their steady approach to customer safety and comfort while maintaining sustainability. The first flight of the prototype is anticipated for the end of this year. "S-A2 is a V-tail aircraft designed to cruise 120 miles per hour at a 1,500-foot altitude to meet typical city operation needs of 25- to 40-mile trips, initially. It features a distributed electric propulsion architecture and has eight all-tilting rotors. At entry into service, Supernal’s vehicle will operate as quietly as a dishwasher: 65 dB in vertical take-off and landing phases and 45 dB while cruising horizontally. The vehicle is designed with a priority on safety and a focus on sustainability and passenger comfort. Engineered to achieve the global commercial aviation standard of safety, it has a robust airframe structure including redundant components in critical systems such as powertrain, flight controls, and avionics. The all-tilting rotor configuration will power the vehicle through both the vertical lift and horizontal cruise phases of flight with unique efficiency. To maintain superior quality while also being cost-effective, the vehicle will be manufactured leveraging Hyundai’s mass production capability." Read more here: https://lnkd.in/gj7Kvu56 and here: https://lnkd.in/eKGa9Kr7 #AerospaceNews #AirMobility #MobilityRevolution #Supernal #EngineeringExcellence

Vertical Aerospace has won the Aerospace Technology Institute's 2024 "Shaping the Future" award for its battery technology for eVTOL aircraft > > https://hubs.la/Q02TML-n0 The award celebrates zero-carbon emissions technology being developed in the UK for future commercial aircraft types and which represents a step change in UK capability in this area. Vertical won the award for its battery system for eVTOL aircraft. Michael Cervenka, Chief Commercial and Technology Officer at Vertical Aerospace, said; “I had the privilege on behalf of our team of receiving this award for all the incredible work we are doing on our battery technology to pioneer electric aircraft. "Our innovation in this area is not only crucial for the future of aviation but also sets the stage for wider innovation across multiple industries and is a space the UK can lead in globally, creating highly skilled jobs and fuelling economic growth. As we begin Phase 2 of testing, which will see the VX4 aircraft undergo piloted thrustborne flight tests, this award is a strong endorsement of our efforts to shape the future of electric aviation and change the way we travel." Vertical Aerospace #technology #aerospace #evtol #aircraft #aviation #innovation