Flutr Motors Flutr

Flutr
Flutr Motors
Munich, Germany
www.flutrmotors.com

FLUTR Motors, headquartered in Munich, Germany, was founded by Cameron Spencer, an Australian commercial pilot, designer and aerospace engineer. FLUTR has a team of engineers and pilots whose vision is to design and engineer a VTOL aircraft, at an affordable price, which should be available to anyone today for personal air travel. Its team members have worked for various aerospace and automotive companies such as Airbus, Jeep, Chrysler and others, and on various international challenging projects from the round-the-world solar powered aircraft Solar Impulse, to the JetWing single-man jet suit.

FLUTR Motors has created a bio-diesel turbine hybrid-electric VTOL multi-copter aircraft, named FLUTR. The name FLUTR comes from a shortened version of the word “flutter”, which was inspired by the elegance of a butterfly’s wings in flight. FLUTR also means Flying Urban Transporter.

Bi-diesel was chosen as their first form of power due to the practicality of having sustained power for a small aircraft and have very low emissions. Later models are planned to be hydrogen-electric powered and also an all electric model. Both of these future models will have zero emissions.

Their design goals are to make an urban air vehicle capable of being flown by someone with minimal training, an aircraft with low noise, have VTOL capability, fly at fast speeds, have excellent maneuvering ability in strong winds and in almost any weather conditions, provide an extremely smooth ride, provide a means of transportation for door-to-door service, provide quick refueling, have an rapid deploying emergency parachute, have little pollution (bio-diesel), have a minimal storage footprint, be affordable and be ready for use on a daily basis.

The company expects the target price for their aircraft to be $200,000.00 USD and to also offer passengers the ability to pay a small fee per ride. The company expects this aircraft to be affordable to everyone due to its low operating cost and low annual maintenance. To land and take-off, the aircraft only needs space equivalent to two (2) parking spaces. The aircraft requires even less space to store in a garage since all four (4) ducted fans retract towards the fuselage when parked.

FLUTR’s goal is to release the same model VTOL in the future but with three (3) different propulsion systems for this aircraft.

• FLUTR DTEH (Diesel Turbine Electric Hybrid)
• FLUTR HEH (Hydrogen Electric Hybrid)
• FLUTR FE (Full Electric)

The bio-diesel hybrid-electric model can also accept gasoline or conventional diesel, if bio-diesel it not available. The aircraft has been made to be used by people in urban areas, remote areas and those who can’t afford helicopters but need the vertical take-off and landing capability of a helicopter. Applications for this vehicle, per the company’s website, will be as an air taxi and a personal air vehicle.

Specifications:

• Aircraft type: hybrid-electric VTOL wingless multicopter. (Future models to be eVTOL wingless multicopter.)
• Piloting: Manual (semi-autonomous and autonomous might be an option in the future).
• Capacity: 2 passengers in tandem and luggage.
• Range: 200 km (125 miles)
• Cruise speed: 250 km/h (155 mph)
• Cruise altitude: 152-457 m (500-1,500 ft)
• Flight Time: 45 minutes with 15 minutes in reserve.
• Propellers: 4 ducted tilting propellers. Each ducted unit has 4 propellers and 1 electric motor.
• Propulsion: 4 electric motors.
• Power: Hybrid turbine-electric using hydrogen or bio-diesel.
• Landing gear: Tricycle skid landing gear.
• Emergency system: Rapid inflating parachute, airbags and energy absorbing seats.
• Storage: All tilting ducted propeller housing fold towards the fuselage for ease of storage in a small space.

Company Insights:

• Crunchbase
• Tracxn

Resources:

• Flutr Motors website
• Flutr Motors Twitter
• Flutr Motors Instagram
• Flutr Motors YouTube
• Article: FLUTR prepare to unveil flying car at Paris Motor Show, Express, Sept. 27, 2018
• Article: Paris Motor Show 2018: FLUTR Debuts as One of the First Passenger-Carrying Drones, Drone Below, Oct. 16, 2018
• Video: FLUTR Paris Motor Show 2018, Flutr Air Vehicles, Feb. 28, 2019
• Article: With Urban Air Mobility Coming into Focus, Two Companies Present Alternative Visions, Avionics International, Oct. 8, 2019