Airborne Motorworks AirCommuter
/Airborne Motorworks AirCommuter/Airborne-Motorworks-AeroCommuter.jpg "Airborne Motorworks AirCommuter eVTOL passenger aircraft")
AirCommuter
Airborne Motorworks Inc.
Spokane Valley, Washington, USA
www.airbornemotorworks.com
Airborne Motorworks was founded in 2014 and is based in Spokane, Washington, USA. The company's purpose is to make electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) flying cars for advanced air mobility (AAM) and other practical delivery drones urban and rural areas. The company also specializes in developing high performance electric powertrains. The company has developed artificial intelligence software capable of providing flight training and autopilot features called iPilot™. The core of Airborne Motorworks green propulsion technology is safety, utility, thrust capacity, stability, design freedom, battery life/power and efficiency.
The Research and Development facilities of the company are located in Spokane, Washington. Initial manufacturing will take place outside of Atlanta, Georgia. Corporate management is based in the greater Houston area in Texas, close to NASA.
In planning a trip with their eVTOL aircraft, the pilot can input their destination into iPilot™ and will see a virtual roadway appear on the windshield. A dashed center line will give drivers the impression of a highway in the sky, allowing them to stay on track during the flight. Airborne Motorworks will use a combination of cameras, LiDAR, and ultrasonic sensors to provide Spherical Visibility™ around vehicles at up to 820 feet (250 meters) of range.
Autopilot enables automatic steering, acceleration and braking on virtual roadways. These sensors will detect nearby hard and soft objects when they encroach on virtual lanes and they will provide guidance when parking. All Airborne Motorworks aircraft will have hardware for self-driving with safety as a priority. iPilot™ will allow short and long distance trips with minimal assistance from the pilot. Pilots simply need to tell their aircraft where to go.
The company has also designed, manufactured and patented their Electromagnetic Gyroscopic Propulsion (EGP) system which includes a shrouded nacelle with a propeller guard which includes the propeller/fan, electric motor, gyroscope and other electronics for a powerful yet stabilized flight. The company states their shrouded propellers produce 10 times the amount of thrust than a similar sized open propeller. The propeller assembly also has a redundant motor design.
The Airborne Motorworks AirCommuter is a four passenger eVTOL aircraft specifically made for advanced air mobility. The aircraft can be flown autonomously using iPilot™ or can be flown manually. The aircraft has four propeller-fans used for vertical lift and forward flight. The cruise speed, range and flight time has not been disclosed by the company as of April 2022. The aircraft is powered by battery packs.
There are two forward propeller-fan assemblies located on low stub wings attached to the fuselage. In the rear of the aircraft is a high V horizontal wing with two propeller-fan assemblies in the rear of the V wing.
The eVTOL aircraft has wide and tall tinted windows for spectacular views for the passengers with a solid roof over the cockpit. The cabin has a high ceiling providing a spacious cabin for the comfort of the passengers. The aircraft has side and rear entrances with plenty of space for luggage.
The AirCommuter has fixed skid landing gear with wheels for moving the aircraft manually by ground crew. Fixed skid landing gear keeps complexity to a minimum increasing the safety of the aircraft and lowering purchase and maintenance costs. There are also several safety features and redundant systems for the aircraft.
The company has not stated when a prototype will be flown or when they expect to see serial production of the AirCommuter eVTOL passenger aircraft.
Specifications:
- Aircraft type: eVTOL passenger aircraft
- Piloting: 1 pilot (autonomous or manual piloting)
- Capacity: 3 passengers
- Cruise speed: Unknown
- Range: Unknown
- Flight Time: Unknown
- Propellers: 4 propeller-fans
- Electric Motors: 4 electric motors (with a redundant motor design)
- Power source: Batteries
- Fuselage: Unknown material, possibly carbon fiber
- Windows: Large tinted windows are on the aircraft for spectacular views for the passengers with a solid roof over the cockpit
- Wings: Two forward low stub wings and rear high V wing
- Landing gear: Fixed skid landing gear with wheels for moving the aircraft manually by ground crew.
- Safety feature: The propeller-fan is in a shrouded nacelle. There is a redundant motor design and a patented thrust system for emergency landings.
Company Insights:
Resources:
- Airborne Motorsworks website
- Airborne Motorsworks Facebook
- Airborne Motorsworks Twitter
- Airborne Motorsworks YouTube Channel
- Airborne Motorsworks LinkedIn
- Video: eVTOL Issue: Thrust, Airborne Motorworks, Sept. 12, 2020
- Video: Stability, Airborne Motorworks, Sept. 12, 2020
- Video: Safety, Airborne Motorworks, Sept. 12, 2020
- Video: Design Issue: Flexibility, Airborne Motorworks, Sept. 12, 2020
- Video: Airborne: What We Do, Airborne Motorworks, Sept. 13, 2020
Recent Pages
- Flowcopter FC100 (production model)
- Seahorse Air SH5-3E (concept design)
- teTra Aviation Mk-7 (prototype)
- AutoFlight Firefighting (production model)
- AutoFlight CarryAll V2000CG (production model)
- AutoFlight Prosperity (production model)
- Velo X Aerospace Velocitor X-1 (concept design)
- Vivame Stycraft Iside (prototype)
- Grasshopper Air Mobility e350 (concept design)
- Auburn University VT-02 Sevak (concept design)
