ACS Aviation Z-300

Z-300
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.

With the experience gained from the SORA-e CTOL aircraft, in 2017, the company started to develop the first Brazilian eVTOL (electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing) aircraft called the Z-300. The Z-300 is a semi-autonomous two (2) passenger aircraft powered 100% with electricity, fully composite airframe with a range up to 300 km (186 miles).

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.

Specifications:

• Aircraft type: eVTOL
• Piloting: Semi-autonomous
• Passengers: 2
• Seating configuration: Tandem
• Cruise speed: 222 km/h (138 mph)
• Range: Up to 300 km (186 miles)
• Total flight time: 90 minutes
• Maximum Take-Off Weight (MTOW): 1,000 kg (2,204 lb) VTOL
• Electric motors: 4X 35 kW continuous power
• Power: 100% electric
• Cockpit canopy: Completely transparent for excellent visibility in all directions
• Wing configuration: Tandem tapered wing configuration
• Airframe: 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