IO Aircraft BlackJack-E

BlackJack-E
IO Aircraft
Space Coast, Florida, USA
www.ioaircraft.com

Drew Blair is a prolific aircraft designer who has developed designs from electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft for Urban Air Mobility (UAM) to single-stage-to-orbit space ships and more. In addition, Blair has made over 200 radio controlled jets, drones and three full-scale aircraft from scratch. He describes himself as having the engineering fluency in hypersonic physics, scramjet propulsion, combined cycle, missile platforms, single-stage-to-orbit capabilities, hybrid-electric conventional aircraft, hybrid-electric VTOL aircraft, eVTOL aircraft and more.

Blair's website catalogs aircraft designs including the following:

• A hypersonic commercial jetliner, luxury personal jet and business jet
• Multiple hypersonic military aircraft (heavy bomber, fighter aircraft, cruise missile and long-range missile)
• Multiple sizes of VTOL hypersonic passenger and cargo aircraft
• A hypersonic cargo fixed-wing cargo aircraft with orbital capability
• A single-stage to orbit cargo space ship
• A Mach 10 aircraft
• A Mach 15 aircraft
• A hybrid-electric commercial jetliner
• A hybrid-electric heavy-lift UAV drone for fire fighting
• Multiple hybrid-electric vertical takeoff and landing eVTOL passenger aircraft for Urban Air Mobility and long haul passenger air transportation

The Blackjack-E is a high performance two passenger eVTOL personal aircraft. Piloting will be autonomous allowing any person to own and use the aircraft without the need to get a pilot's license. However, there will be control sticks at each bucket seat so either passenger can control the aircraft. The estimated cruise speed in the range of 288-345 mph (463-555 km/h) and the aircraft can travel as far as 160 miles (258 km) on one charge of the battery packs.

The airframe is expected to be a composite graphene structure providing the following properties:

• A very thin two-dimensional, planar sheet of bonded carbon atoms in a dense, honeycomb-shaped crystal lattice but is incredibly strong (about 200 times stronger than steel)
• Flexibility
• Stiff
• UV resistance
• Fire resistant
• Lightweight
• Can reduce interlaminar shear failure
• Reduces microcracking with a composite laminate
• Impact resistance
• Rust-free
• Weatherproof
• Reduce the detrimental effects of lightning strike damage
• Has a longer service life than other composites
• Conductivity (conductor of heat and electricity)
• Green/Sustainability (Can be recycled from waste products such as biodiesel fuel)
• Revolutionary

Graphene is a one-atom-thick layer of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice first isolated and characterized in 2004 by researchers at the University of Manchester, United Kingdom. Graphane can also be fabricated in sheets comprising up to 10 or more carbon layers. Its founders Andre Geim and Kostya Novoselov won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2010. Graphene is hailed as a "wonder material". Some engineers have called graphene, basically magic.

The rotors are variable pitch and articulating seven bladed propellers and have IO Aircraft's proprietary technology which makes the propellers very quiet. The airframe for BlackJack-E will be mostly made of a composite graphene that is 33 times stronger than titanium but only 1/50th of the weight. The nacelle mount will be a combination of composites and metals allowing the aircraft to perform aerobatic manuevers such as barrel rolls and back flips.  

Some of the safety features include Distributed Electric Propulsion (DEP), which means the aircraft has multiple propellers and electric motors, so in the event of a failure of one or two propellers or electric motors, the aircraft can still land safely. In fact, the aircraft has four propellers and eight electric motors, so if several electric motors fail, the others will continue powering the propellers.

The aircraft is made of a graphene composite and has a very strong fuselage and in the event of a hard landing, the passengers will be safe. In the event of a water landing, the aircraft floats on water which will keep the passengers safe. The BlackJack-E also comes equipped with a ballistic parachute in case of a catastrophic event.

The estimated cost of the aircraft is $200,000.000 USD. The company foresees this aircraft as an on-demand air taxi, for business use, personal air transportation and more. There is no information at this time (January 2022) when prototypes will be built or when a production model might roll out of a factory.

Specifications:

• Aircraft type: eVTOL passenger aircraft
• Piloting: Autonomous (with the option to fly it manually)
• Capacity: 2 passengers
• Cruise speed: 288-345 mph (463-555 km/h)
• Range: 160 miles (258 km)
• Flight Time: Unknown
• Cruise altitude:
• Propellers: 4 propellers
• Electric Motors: 8 electric motors
• Power source: Battery packs
• Fuselage: Graphene composite fuselage
• Windows: Canopy over cockpit allowing forward, left, right and top visibility, for spectacular views
• Landing gear: Retractable tricycle landing gear, with one wheel in the front and two wheels in the rear of the aircraft
• Safety features: Has eight electric motors, if one or two electric motors fail, the other electric motors can handle landing the aircraft safely. There are multiple redundant avionics and electrical systems, the aircraft has a fireproof airframe and there is a whole aircraft ballistic parachute system. In case of an unexpected landing in water, the aircraft fuselage has been designed to float in water.

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