We've seen various vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) vehicle designs in the past. From contraptions that feature no wings to air taxis with massive propellers, there are many options to choose from when it comes to VTOLs. But this new aircraft has something unique that allows it to fold its wings and turn into a multirotor drone.
It's called Transwing, and behind its design lies PteroDynamics, a Colorado-based aircraft manufacturer that set on a journey to build "the safest and most efficient vertical take-off and landing aircraft possible."
Towards that modest goal, the company has created something different than what we're used to seeing.
Transwing's design is meant to allow it to fly up to seven times faster than your average VTOL. The secret, PteroDynamics says, lies in the ability to reduce its size when it comes to taking off and landing.
By transitioning between multirotor and fixed-wing configurations, the articulation mechanism requires only a small fraction of the aircraft's weight. Therefore, minor structural and aerodynamic drawbacks result in flight efficiencies.
When in take-off, landing, or hover mode, Transwing is typically half as long as its wingspan. Compared to other winged aircraft with similar wingspans and performance characteristics, this reduces the amount of space needed for them to take off and land (you can fit about 5 times more VTOLs).
Thanks to its design, Transwing will also have better controllability and efficiency. This allows it to operate in windy conditions. Even more, to maintain a fixed orientation throughout the flight, its fuselage is constantly parallel to the ground. This comes in handy, especially when transporting people and other payloads that must remain stable throughout the entire journey, such as cameras and sensors.
PteroDynamics has already run a few test flights on several prototypes by now. The latest took place in February, and it involved a Parus6 Transwing design. The 6.6 ft (2 meters) wingspan aircraft with modified COTS (common off-the-shelf) wings performed as planned even in harsh weather conditions.
Currenlty, the company is looking to work with other companies and share its patented tech with them, as it plans to enter several industry segments in the future, including drone delivery, air taxis, and personal flying transport.
Florina taught herself how to drive in a Daewoo Tico (a rebadged Suzuki Alto kei car) but her first "real car" was a VW Golf. When she’s not writing about cars, drones or aircraft, Florina likes to read anything related to space exploration and take pictures in the middle of nature. Full profile
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