Plana (unnamed)

(unnamed)
Plana
Yongin-si, Gyunggi-do, South Korea
www.plana.aero

Plana was founded in July 2021 by Braden J. Kim, Ph.D. CEO, Minyoung Ahn CSO/COO and Jinmo Lee Ph.D CPO in Yongin-si, Gyunggi-do, South Korea. Plana was established to lead in the creation of new and innovative short to medium-range clean and safe hybrid-electric vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) passenger aircraft and its ecosystem.

Plana has reported it has raised in a pre-series A investment round, some ₩11.8 billion Korean won (KRW), approximately $8.3 million USD and this brings the company's total investment to date as of October 2022, close to $10 million USD. The companies which participated in the pre-series A fundraising round, in alphabetical order, include DSC Investment, Dt& Investment, FuturePlay, Industrial Bank of Korea, Kibo Technology Fund, Schmidt, Shinhan Asset Management and Xenoholdings Asia.

To achieve their goal of serial production for advanced air mobility passenger aircraft, the company has already recruited around 30 global talents from France, Turkey, India, Japan and Australia as of early 2022. The company is continuing to expand their workforce. The company is focusing on powertrain technology, its ecosystem and has safety as the top priority for their aircraft and passengers.

The Plana's (unnamed) futuristic designed hybrid-electric VTOL is a short to medium-range passenger aircraft. The aircraft is flown by one pilot and carries up to six passengers with their luggage. The aircraft has six tilt-propellers which are used for both VTOL, forward, rearward and all modes of flight. The estimated cruise speed for the aircraft is 300 km/h (186 mph), has a maximum speed of 350 km/h (217 mph) and has a range of 563 km (350 m).

The aircraft has a sleek design with canard wings and has panoramic wrap around windows allowing forward, left, right visibility, for spectacular views for the passengers with a solid roof above cabin. At the end of each wing are tilt-propellers and the rear wing has two addition tilt-propeller which are located in the back of wing, closer to the fuselage. The tilt-propellers at the end of the wings tilt upward for VTOL flight and are traction propellers for forward flight. The two rearward facing tilt-propellers tilt downward for VTOL flight and are pusher propellers for forward flight. The tail of the aircraft has one vertical stabilizer and has tricycle retractable wheeled landing gear.

The company expects to have a half-scale demonstrator aircraft completed in 2023 and flight tested in 2024. A full scale passenger prototype is expected to be developed in 2025. The production aircraft is expected to be available for passenger air taxi service by 2028. Plana is in the process to establish a US branch to help facilitate Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification for the aircraft. The company's long term vision is to have over 200,000 of its aircraft produced by 2040.

Plana’s half-scale demonstrator will be part of the Korean Urban Air Mobility (K-UAM) Grand Challenge Demonstration Project. Demonstration flights for the Grand Challenge are planned to take place from August 2023 to March 2024.

Specifications:

• Aircraft type: Hybrid-electric VTOL passenger aircraft
• Piloting: 1 pilot
• Capacity: 6 passengers with room for luggage
• Cruise speed: 300 km/h (186 mph)
• Maximum speed: 350 km/h (217 mph)
• Range: 563 km (350 m)
• Propellers: 6 tilt-propellers
• Electric motors: 6 electric motors
• Power source: Hybrid-electric power source
• Fuselage: Carbon fiber composite
• Windows: Panoramic wrap around windows allowing forward, left, right visibility, for spectacular views with a solid roof above the passenger compartment
• Wings: Canard wings
• Tail: 1 rear vertical stabilizer
• Landing gear: Retractable tricycle wheeled landing gear
• Safety features: Distributed Electric Propulsion (DEP), provides safety through redundancy for its passengers and/or cargo. DEP means having multiple propellers (or ducted fans) and motors on the aircraft so if one or more propellers (ducted fans) or motors fail, the other working propellers (or ducted fans) and motors can safely land the aircraft. There are also redundancies in the sub-systems of the aircraft. In an emergency, the aircraft can land like a conventional airplane.

Company Insights:

• Crunchbase
• Airframer

Resources:

• Plana website
• Plana LinkedIn
• Video: PLANA Hybrid eVTOL Conceptual Design Release 2022, Plana, Feb. 23, 2022
• Article: PLANA shares vision for advanced air mobility with hybrid electric aircraft model, The Korea Herald, Feb. 28, 2022
• Article: Plana joins the eVTOL race, with unique-looking 7-seat hybrid air taxi, New Atlas, Oct. 12, 2022
• Article: South Korea’s hybrid eVTOL-maker Plana “attracts USD9 million in pre-A fundraise”, Urban Air Mobility, Oct. 12, 2022
• Article: Advanced Air Mobility Startup Plana Raises $9M in Pre-Series A Funding, Avionics International, Oct. 17, 2022
• Article: Hybrid eVTOL Company Plana Signs Letter of Intent with Electric Power Systems for Advanced Air Mobility Batteries, Business Wire, Nov. 1, 2022
• Article: S. Korean startup PLANA bets big on hybrid eVOTL aircraft market, Yonhap New Agency, Nov. 7, 2022