The race to bring an electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft to market is on. One of the frontrunners, UK aviation startup Vertical Aerospace, is set to launch the world’s first certified winged eVTOL with the VX4.
Quiet, efficient and operationally carbon-emission free, eVTOL machines are praised as the next urban mobility solution. Innovators like Vertical Aerospace plan to move more freely and access local heliports and airports where noise regulations currently restrict the number of flights per day.
Vertical Aerospace is targeting an aircraft that is significantly quieter than a helicopter – and will cost far less to run too – allowing it to tap into a market for travel between areas underserved by high-speed rail networks and regional airlines.
“What we’re witnessing is population growth in major cities where the ground base infrastructure such as road and public transportation is getting saturated and congested,” said Eric Samson, head of engineering at Vertical Aerospace.
“Then there are helicopters, used for transportation around large cities, but they are increasingly facing landing restrictions due to noise levels, offer no safety redundancy and are cost prohibitive to the general public.
We’re developing an electrically distributed propulsion system, which offers redundancy, is cheaper to run and maintain, will be about 30 times quieter than a helicopter and doesn’t sacrifice the planet.”
“We are targeting inter- and intra-city travel with a range of up to 100 miles at cruise speeds of 150mph.
We’ve chosen a wing design because lift offers the benefit of speed, range and is very quiet in cruise conditions,
which will help us stand out in this market.”
As the company builds its business from scratch, it needs a robust platform to support its entire product development and certification process and bring together all disciplines in one place to innovate at speed.
Vertical Aerospace is building its revolutionary aircraft and defining its processes on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform. This gives the company access to enterprise-level design, engineering and simulation software in a single, secure, standards-based environment.
With all its operations running on the cloud, Vertical Aerospace has the agility it needs to accelerate product development. The 3DEXPERIENCE platform supports the company’s efforts to develop its product and processes in parallel and build a virtual twin of its aircraft that incorporates all disciplines and operations. This will help the company to navigate the complex certification process and maintain full traceability throughout the lifecycle of the aircraft. |
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Customer Story: Vertical Aerospace
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