Textron eAviation’s Post

Airbus and Avincis, a well-established European helicopter operator, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to partner on the development of Advanced Air Mobility (AAM). The companies will collaborate to explore opportunities for operating electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft throughout Europe. Through the agreement, Airbus and Avincis will focus on defining the concept of operations for eVTOLs in Europe and beyond. Both parties will jointly work to define mission profiles for eVTOL operations in Europe and other target regions. This agreement is another step towards the creation of an AAM ecosystem and is an expansion of Airbus’ long standing relationship with Avincis.

Excellent compare/contrast eVTOLs in AAM/UAM market. Joby vs Archer vs Lilium. Tech review discusses manufacturing costs, as well as revenue projection models per vehicle and across entire business operation. Composition ownership and financial models. Noise levels. Again, each of these vehicles will need to take of, and land, at vertiports constructed to standards the FAA is proposing through EB105. Enjoy. https://lnkd.in/ebMEvgH3

Given the weight considerations of the concept, integrating an ejection seat into an eVTOL (at least for flight test purposes) is representative of the safety considerations first and foremost on the minds of both regulators and developers. Are you sitting comfortably Vertical Aerospace? 🔻

If you are in the eVTOL industry, you should check out this webinar that my colleague, Cody Weber, and I recently gave.

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.

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

A huge step forward for the eVTOL industry! 💥 If you haven’t already seen, EASA have just published their latest update to their SC-VTOL regulation, creatively named: SC-VTOL-02. See the link in the comments. What is SC-VTOL? SC-VTOL is an acronym that stands for “Special Conditions for Vertical Take of and Landing”. There is lots of detail we could go into about this but in simple terms, SC-VTOL is a set of rules and regulations that companies need to match in order to produce a certified aircraft of this category. For traditional aircraft, there is already a clearly defined list of requirements and regulation that needs to be adhered to. This has been around for years but is of course being constantly updated and refined as new technology is developed. However, the entrance of very unique eVTOL aircraft has prompted the creation of a brand new, specific set of rules. You guessed it, SC-VTOL. Why is this update important? Not only does this update the rules for certification it is also a great sign of progress for international collaboration. The FAA have also just released a statement about the application of safety standards to powered lift aircraft. Put simply, FAA and EASA have taken a big step towards aligning their rulemaking and policy initiatives to help make certification of this category more similar in Europe and the U.S. This helps further clarify the benchmark that companies need to reach to be able to safely release their aircraft into operation. We are getting closer to a new world of eVTOL applications! Check out the updates in the comments: #eVTOL #AAM #EASA #SCVTOL #SCVTOL02 #UAM

Transition is the most crucial flight phase for a winged eVTOL, as it is the time when the aircraft becomes wing borne, that is all its lift comes from the wing. Mastering transition of a full scale product representative large eVTOL is a feat that until today had been accomplished by just three OEMs: Joby Aviation, AutoFlight and BETA TECHNOLOGIES. Today we add two more: - In the US, Archer transitioned Midnight, retiring more program risk at an unexpected pace - In China, 沃飞长空 AEROFUGIA transitioned the AE200, going from first flight to transition in just four months In the world now we have five companies to have achieved this milestone with a full scale aircraft...but still only one (BETA TECHNOLOGIES) to have done it with a pilot onboard. Congratulations to both companies for such a momentous accomplishment. Full video of the 沃飞长空 AEROFUGIA transition: https://bit.ly/4cjlWyy Full video of the Archer transition: https://bit.ly/3xbat5t #aam #uam #evtol #airtaxi #transition

A significant comment in this article regards the aircraft power systems, which may be an indicator of the practical use of eVTOL with existing battery technology. Positioning aircraft in-flight is a basic need, it will be interesting to see how this need is addressed in real world operations.   “During hover, eVTOL vehicles will be very power-hungry, so they can’t spend a lot of time doing that over a landing site,” Newman explained. “So we need very intuitive displays so that highly skilled test pilots and 500-hour pilots can come to a full stop over the landing point each and every time because it’s too expensive power-wise to stop the aircraft and adjust position just a few meters above the ground.” https://lnkd.in/gPQHzbTZ

🎊⚡We have completed the first systems power-on #milestone on our first Lilium #Jet, MSN 1, which will be used to confirm safety for the first piloted flight, planned for early 2025. MSN 2, the first aircraft that #Lilium will fly with a pilot on board, is now in final assembly.   ✅This represents a significant achievement on the path to #first #flight and #certification, and confirms that the aircraft is being built in accordance with Lilium’s platform design and the flight systems are functioning correctly.    📢Steve Vellacott CEng FRAeS, Lilium CTO: “The two Lilium Jets now on our final assembly line, and those to come, will be conforming aircraft, built to the specifications of our design organization, according to documented processes and in line with established aerospace procedures. When it comes to aircraft production, process control, repeatability, traceability, and above all safety is paramount. Achieving this first power-on milestone demonstrates that we’re on track." 👇Full press release on the comments below. #eVTOL $LILM