Boeing Cargo Air Vehicle CV1 (prototype)

(Photo credit: Boeing)

Cargo Air Vehicle CV1 (prototype)
The Boeing Company
Chicago, Illinois, USA
www.boeing.com

The Boeing Company was founded in 1916 in Seattle Washington, USA. Currently, Boeing's headquarters is located in Crystal City, Virginia, USA. Boeing is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites and missiles worldwide. The company began designing and making an air cargo heavy-lift electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft for advanced air mobility (AAM). In a statement, Boeing said "The innovative platform is designed to test and evolve Boeing’s autonomy technology for future aerospace vehicles." (Image credit: Boeing)

The Cargo Air Vehicle team has made multiple prototypes from several small drones to making at least two large heavy-lift air cargo prototype drones.  The Cargo Air Vehicle CV1 prototype and was built in three months. The first flight tests of the Boeing Air Cargo Vehicle prototypes began in 2017. The initial prototype flight testing was completed in 2018 which included taking off and landing in Boeing's Ridley Park wind tunnel (Pennsylvania, USA). Boeing debuted the first subscale model of the CAV multicopter at the 2018 Farnborough International Airshow (United Kingdom). The CAV2 completed over 150 flight tests in 2019 and depending on the weather, the aircraft flew up to seven times a day. "The technology opens up new possibilities for delivering time-sensitive and high-value goods, conducting autonomous missions in remote or dangerous environments, and other applications," the company has stated.

Cargo Air Vehicle CV1 heavy-lift air cargo eVTOL prototype multicopter aircraft
The Cargo Air Vehicle CV1 is a heavy-lift air cargo eVTOL prototype multicopter aircraft. The aircraft has been made with an open framed fuselage, the central fuselage is painted black and the two booms and landing gear assembly is silver (and what appears to be unpainted aircraft aluminum). Components and wires are fastened to the outside of the fuselage allowing easy installation and for any adjustments needed. While the prototype aircraft has been specifically made for heavy-lift air cargo delivery and logistics, the aircraft is also a flying test bed aimed at achieving autonomous piloting, autonomous air cargo delivery and for other autonomous transportation applications.

At the time, Boeing had not revealed many specifications of the multicopter prototype such as cruise speed, cruise altitude, range or the flight time of the aircraft. The company did reveal that the empty weight of the prototype is 747 lb (339 kg), has a maximum payload weight of 500 lb (227 kg) and has a maximum takeoff weight of 1,247 lb (566 kg). The aircraft has four pairs of stacked counter-rotating propellers (eight propellers), eight electric motors and battery packs made in-house by Boeing engineers. The open framed airframe is rectangular in shape with two booms, each boom is attached at right angles to the fuselage, at the very ends of the main fuselage. The main fuselage is 15 ft (4.57 m) long, 18 ft (5.49 m) wide and 4 ft (1.22 m) high. The prototype has fixed quadricycle landing struts with shock absorbers.

For safety, the aircraft uses distributed electric propulsion (DEP) which means having multiple propellers and multiple electric motors on an aircraft so if one or more propellers or some electric motors fail, the other working propellers and electric motors can safely land the aircraft. To ensure safe flight operations, the CAV always flies within a predesignated airspace and is equipped with automated safety features that can command it to land.

Future
As of May 2024, there has been no announcement by Boeing of an anticipated year for the production and sales of this aircraft.

Specifications:

• Aircraft type: eVTOL air cargo prototype drone
• Piloting: Autonomous piloting
• Capacity: Air cargo only
• Cruise speed: Unknown
• Empty weight: 747 lb (339 kg)
• Maximum payload weight: 500 lb (227 kg)
• Maximum takeoff weight: 1,247 lb (566 kg)
• Propellers: 8 propellers (stacked propellers)
• Electric motors: 8 electric motors
• Power source: In-house made battery packs
• Fuselage: Open framed fuselage
• Fuselage dimensions: 15 ft (4.57 m) LONG, 18 ft (5.49 m) WIDE by 4 ft (1.22 m) HIGH
• Landing gear: Fixed quadricycle landing struts with shock absorbers
• Safety features: Distributed Electric Propulsion (DEP) means having multiple propellers (or electric ducted fans) and multiple electric motors on an aircraft so if one or more propellers (or electric ducted fans) or some electric motors fail, the other working propellers (or electric ducted fans) and electric motors can safely land the aircraft. DEP provides safety through redundancy for passengers or cargo. There are also redundancies of critical components in the sub-systems of the aircraft providing safety through redundancy. Having multiple redundant systems on any aircraft decreases having any single point of failure. To ensure safe flight operations, the CAV always flies within designated airspace and it is equipped with automated safety features that can command it to land.

Related Aircraft:

• Aurora Flight Sciences (Boeing) Pegasus PAV (prototype)
• Aurora Flight Sciences (Boeing) XV-24 LightningStrike (defunct)
• Boeing Cargo Air Vehicle CV2 (prototype)
• Boeing Cargo Air Vehicle IT1 (concept design)
• Boeing Cargo Air Vehicle IT2 (concept design)
• Porsche Boeing Unnamed J2 (concept design)
• Porsche Boeing Unnamed T2 (concept design)
• Porsche Boeing Unnamed III (concept design)

Company Insights:

• Crunchbase
• MarketWatch
• Pitchbook
• Tracxn

Resources:

• The Boeing Company website
• Boeing Cargo Air Vehicle web page
• Boeing Urban Air Mobility Concept Of Operations web page
• Boeing Future Of Flight website
• Boeing Cargo Air Vehicle Wikipedia
• The Boeing Company Facebook
• The Boeing Company X (formerly Twitter)
• The Boeing Company YouTube Channel
• The Boeing Company Instagram
• The Boeing Company LinkedIn
• Video: Boeing's New Autonomous Air Vehicle Prototype, Boeing, Jan. 10, 2018
• Article: Boeing Unveils New Unmanned Cargo Air Vehicle Prototype, Boeing, Jan. 10, 2018
• Article: Boeing unveils unmanned air cargo prototype designed to carry up to 500 pounds, GeekWire, Jan. 10, 2018
• Article: Boeing's Experimental Cargo Drone Is a Heavy Lifter, Wired, Jan. 14, 2018
• Article: Boeing reveals heavy lift drone development, The Manufacturer, Jan. 16, 2018
• Video: Bringing Flight Closer to Home: Boeing's Future of Travel and Transport, Boeing, July 17, 2018
• Article: Boeing Exploring Autonomy, LIDAR in Future Air Cargo Aircraft, Avionics International, July 24, 2018
• Article: Boeing Registers "CV2" eVTOL, Electric VTOL News, Sept. 3, 2018
• Article: Boeing unveils prototype unmanned cargo air vehicle, Air Cargo News, Nov. 1, 2018
• Article: Boeing CAV Flies Free, Electric VTOL News, June 30, 2019
• Article: Boeing Moves Forward With CAV, Electric VTOL News, Nov. 4, 2019