The aircraft maintenance professional's source for technological advancements, maintenance alerts, news, articles, events, and careers
Issue link: http://amt.epubxp.com/i/942786
MANUFACTURING INNOVATIONS www.AviationPros.com 23 high failure tolerance and the ability to fly emission-free and with low-noise. In January 2018 Bell Helicopter revealed the cabin model of an electric, self-piloting urban air taxi. Bell's initial propulsion technology focus is expected to be hybrid electric with an eventual goal of fully electric. The propulsion system remains a secret for now but a sort of a multicopter design won't be a surprise. VERTICAL TAKEOFF AND LANDING (VTOL) The tilt-type architecture is right now very widely used by many aircraft designers and allows pretty radical designs which are almost all vertical takeoff and land- ing (VTOL) aircraft which is achieved in different ways. Manufacturers combine different prop- erties of fixed wings for cruise and mul- ticopters for VTOL properties by tilting either only the propeller or tilting engines and propellers and sometimes tilting even wings (or portion of) together with com- plete powerplants. This requires chang- ing the direction of thrust from hover to cruise. There is a need to design propul- sors for a wide range of operating condi- tions (hover and horizontal flight). In some cases it is difficult to catego- rize these new aircraft as they are often creating their own niche such as the XTI Aircraft, Trifan 600, and Airbus Vahana. Motors and propellers are vertically installed, constantly creating lift, with no "mode change". Multicopters are VTOL aircraft, simple to design and build. The American electric-drive truck manufacturer Workhorse showcased a hybrid-electric vertical-takeoff-and- landing (eVTOL) aircraft called SureFly in mid 2017. The octocopter builds on Workhorse's development of the HorseFly delivery drone, has four arms with two electric motors on their end. It is powered by a nondisclosed 200-hp turbocharged combustion engine which drives a genera- tor, and which is backed up by a dual- battery system. Motors and propeller are vertically installed with no "mode change". Aurora's eVTOL is a prototype of a new form of urban mobility using sepa- rate propulsion systems (motor and pro- peller) for hover (takeoff, landing) and cruise eliminating mechanical complexity but still achieving cruise speed of 100 knots at 1 ton weight and approximately 500-pound payload. Aurora XV-24A LightningStrike: This VTOL assembled with combat helicop- DPU 7-7070 The Newest HD Video Processor to Complement Our Videoscopes Over 40 Years of Cutting Edge Borescope Inspection Equipment Contact us today! 800.431.5420 • www.machidascope.com Made in America HD Videoscopes Pratt & Whitney Approved Kits Good for all engines Ability to create and design custom borescopes Visit us at HAI Booth C1250 AviationPros.com/company/10134601