Photo: Airbus
An increasing number of companies are involved in the eVTOL race, and more and more of them are already moving these days from simply stating their intentions and presenting concepts to actually researching what it will take to make urban eVTOL flights a reality.
It was at the end of August when we learned of Embraer offshoot (and future major player on the VTOL market) Eve Holding using Blade Air Mobility helicopters to test operations, ground services, passenger journeys and eVTOL operator needs in Chicago, Illinois.
Now, pretty much the same piece of news comes our way courtesy of Airbus, which is already hard at work creating something called CityAirbus NextGen. The machine is a fixed-wing beast with a V-shaped tail, supported by eight electrically powered propellers. It will be capable of carrying four passengers, pilot included, for distances that can be as far as 80 km (50 miles) on a single battery charge, and at speeds of up to120 kph (75 mph).
The first flight of the CityAirbus is planned for 2023, but the company needs to get a lot of things right until then, including ideal routes, concepts of operations and necessary equipment.
To find exactly what that’ll mean, Airbus will partner with Japanese helicopter operator Hiratagakuen for flight simulations in the country’s Kansai region, which should take place starting later this year.
Playing the role of a CityAirbus will be an Airbus H135 helicopter (of which Hiratagakuen has a large fleet of 14 examples), one of the company’s “most successful lightweight rotorcraft.” It will be used to test navigation and communication tech while simulating the VTOL’s flight configuration.
As per the stated goal, Airbus plans to use the NextGen not necessarily as an airborne taxi alone, but also as transport for air medical services and ecotourism.
Now, pretty much the same piece of news comes our way courtesy of Airbus, which is already hard at work creating something called CityAirbus NextGen. The machine is a fixed-wing beast with a V-shaped tail, supported by eight electrically powered propellers. It will be capable of carrying four passengers, pilot included, for distances that can be as far as 80 km (50 miles) on a single battery charge, and at speeds of up to120 kph (75 mph).
The first flight of the CityAirbus is planned for 2023, but the company needs to get a lot of things right until then, including ideal routes, concepts of operations and necessary equipment.
To find exactly what that’ll mean, Airbus will partner with Japanese helicopter operator Hiratagakuen for flight simulations in the country’s Kansai region, which should take place starting later this year.
Playing the role of a CityAirbus will be an Airbus H135 helicopter (of which Hiratagakuen has a large fleet of 14 examples), one of the company’s “most successful lightweight rotorcraft.” It will be used to test navigation and communication tech while simulating the VTOL’s flight configuration.
As per the stated goal, Airbus plans to use the NextGen not necessarily as an airborne taxi alone, but also as transport for air medical services and ecotourism.
Google News