ACS Aviation Z-300 (concept design)

(Image credit: ACS Aviation)

Z-300 (concept design)
ACS Aviation
São José dos Campos, São Paulo, Brazil
www.acs-solutions.com.br

ACS Aviation is an innovative Brazilian company, founded in 2006 by a group of experienced aeronautical engineers. ACS Aviation is located in São José dos Campos, São Paulo, Brazil, which is one of the leading industrial and research centers with an emphasis in aerospace sciences in Latin America.

ACS Aviation has already participated in the development of 12 manned and unmanned aircraft and they remain at the forefront of Brazil’s national aeronautical development, having been the first company to design, produce and fly an all-electric conventional take-off and landing (CTOL) powered manned aircraft, the SORA-e. ACS Aviation began the development of the two-seater SORA-e concept aircraft in 2015 with 100% electric propulsion, 90 minutes of flight time at 190 km/h (118 mph), with a top speed of 340 km/h (221 mph), a 300 km (186 miles) range and climbs at 1,500 feet (457 meters) per minute.

Z-300 passenger eVTOL concept design aircraft
With the experience gained from the SORA-e CTOL aircraft, in 2017, the company started to design the first Brazilian eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) concept design aircraft called the Z-300. The Z-300 is a semi-autonomous aircraft that holds two passengers and their luggage. As of October 2025, the eVTOL concept design is on the home page of the company's website and no progress reports are noted. 

The cruise speed of the aircraft is estimated to be  222 km/h (138 mph), has an expected range of 300 km (186 miles) and has a predicted flight time of 90 minutes. The aircraft has four tilt-props for vertical and forward flight and is powered by batteries. The fuselage is made from carbon fiber composite to give the aircraft a high strength to low weight ratio. The aircraft and takeoff and land vertically or conventionally.

The Z-300 has a tandem tapered wing configuration with the electric motors attached to the front edge of the forward wings and for the rear wings, the electric motors attached to the back edge of the wing. For vertical flight, the outer third of front wing tilts upward causing the mounted propellers to move in the same direction, with the propellers above the tilted wing, for vertical flight. The inside remaining portion of the front wing is mounted permanently to the fuselage and does not move. For the rear wing, about half of the outer rear wing tilts downward and the propellers tilt downward as well and the propellers are below the wing during vertical flight. The remaining rear inner wing is again, mounted permanently to the fuselage.

The front landing gear looks to be permanently mounted under the forward wings. The Z-300 has a fairly large rudder in the rear of the aircraft with no horizontal stabilizer. The third wheel for the landing gear is located directly under the rudder. Again, complexity is reduced by this type of aircraft design and the aircraft weight is kept to a minimum without the hydraulics and corresponding mechanical gear used with retractable landing gear.

The aircraft has a transparent canopy over the cockpit providing excellent visibility in all directions for both passengers. This eVTOL aircraft design is taking full advantage of distributed electric propulsion (DEP) (extremely efficient, safe, and reliable propulsion; excellent handling, reduction of weight, and reducing the complexity the aircraft), the benefits of airplane wings for maximizing it flight range and the benefits of helicopter vertical flight by its tilting wings and propellers.

Editor's Note:
It is important to remember that all concept design aircraft specifications are estimated and can or will change as prototypes and production models are made, tested and flown with real world avionics, components and payloads.

Specifications:

• Aircraft type: Passenger eVTOL concept design aircraft
• Piloting: Semi-autonomous
• Passengers: 2 passengers
• Seating configuration: Tandem seating
• Cruise speed (estimated): 222 km/h (138 mph)
• Range (estimated): Up to 300 km (186 miles)
• Total flight time (estimated): 90 minutes
• Maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) (estimated): 1,000 kg (2,204 lb) VTOL
• Electric motors: 4X 35 kW continuous power
• Power: Batteries
• Cockpit: Transparent canopy over the cockpit for excellent visibility in all directions
• Wing configuration: Tandem tapered wing configuration
• Airframe: Carbon fiber composite
• Landing gear: Tail dragger. (Two wheels under the wings and a wheel under the rear rudder.)
• Safety Features: Distributed Electric Propulsion (DEP), provides safety through redundancy for its passengers and/or cargo. DEP means having multiple propellers and motors on the aircraft so if one or more motors or propellers fail, the other working motors and propellers can safely land the aircraft. The aircraft can also land like a plane due to its wings and wheeled landing gear.

Resources:

• ACS Aviation website
• ACS Aviation Z-300 web page
• ACS Aviation Facebook
• ACS Aviation YouTube
• ACS Aviation Wikipedia
• Video: AVIAO ELETRICO VOO INAUGURAL EM ITAIPU, Cristina Kirsner, Jun. 24, 2015
• Video: Avião Eletrico - SORA-e, ACS Aviation, Nov. 7, 2017
• Article: The Brazilian aeronautics industry far beyond Embraer, Airway, Jan. 17, 2019
• Article: Industry has nearly 170 electric plane programs in place, Airway, May 14, 2019