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SkyDrive SD-05 (production model)

SkyDrive SD-05 eVTOL passenger aircraft

(Photo credit: SkyDrive)

SD-05 (production model)
SkyDrive Inc.
Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture, Japan
www.skydrive2020.com

Founded in July 2018, SkyDrive Inc. is an electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) manufacturer based in Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. Tomohiro Fukuzawa is the chief executive officer and Nobuo Kishi is the chief technology officer. The mission of the company is to take the lead in the once-in-a-century mobility revolution to design and produce eVTOL passenger and air cargo aircraft for advanced air mobility (AAM). According to a SkyDrive article on April 6, 2023, its cumulative funding has now exceeded ¥15 billion yen. As of July 2024, the company is looking to raise more funds for their eVTOL passenger aircraft. (All images: SkyDrive)

The company's goals is to make eVTOL aircraft safer than conventional aircraft, less costly, less noisy, autonomous and that require less infrastructure. The plan is to start using the aircraft in the mid-2020s for air transportation of goods and people in areas where conventional public transportation is slow or almost nonexistent in rural and urban areas. The company's vision is to create a future where everyone has access to eVTOL aircraft as their daily transportation in Japan and across the world.

Brief history
A brief history of the company starts in September 2012 when Tomohiro Fukuzawa formed a volunteer group automotive, drone and aviation industry professionals, who would meet outside of business hours and started discussions by first stating "Let's do something interesting". Based on Fukuzawa's automotive background, he asked the group a fundamental question, "How do people move?" Eventually, more than 100 ideas were talked about, such as cars which could also be submarines to small enough cars that could move from room to room, inside a building.

After a year and a half of discussions in 2013, the group decided on flying cars. The company they formed was called Cartivator. The company name was created by combining the word car and cultivate with the definition of cultivate being more towards the word pioneer. As the business matured, it became difficult to continue with volunteer workers. This is why in July 2018, about 30 people from Cartivator founded SkyDrive Inc. The company originally had plans to make a flying car, a vehicle that can fly in the "Sky" and "Drive" on the road, hence the name SkyDrive. However, the company is only making eVTOL passenger aircraft at this time.

SD-05 passenger eVTOL multicopter production aircraft
The SD-05 is a single piloted passenger eVTOL production model aircraft that holds two passengers and their luggage. In 2023, the aircraft was redesigned from carrying one pilot and one passenger, and changing the aircraft to a one pilot and two passenger aircraft. This change in increasing the seating to have one additional passenger seat was announced to the public on June 19, 2023. The aircraft's flight stability is secured with the assistance of a computer-controlled flight system.

The aircraft has an estimated maximum cruise speed of 100 km/h (62 mph), has a target range of 15 km (9 miles) and has a predicted flight time of 5-10 minutes. The maximum takeoff weight of the aircraft has been calculated at 1,400 kg (3,100 lbs). The aircraft has 12 propellers and 12 electric motors on an overhead boom assembly. The boom assembly has a back-to-back modified V boom configuration at the top of the fuselge and at each end of the V-booms is a cross-boom and each propeller is located at the ends of each cross-boom.

The aircraft has panoramic wrap around windows allowing forward, left, right visibility for spectacular views with a solid roof above the passenger compartment. The fuselage is made from carbon fiber composite providing a high strength to low weight ratio. The dimensions of the aircraft are 13 m X 13 m X 3 m (43 ft X 43 ft X 10 ft), including the propellers.

Extending from the rear of the fuselage is a modified boom tail that has two rear vertical booms that connect to a downward sloping horizontal stabilizer with vertical fins on each end of the horizontal stabilizer. The aircraft has fixed skid landing gear with the rear of each skid having an angled-outward vertical fin or what might be called ventral fins.

Some of the safety features of the aircraft include Distributed Electric Propulsion (DEP) which provides safety through redundancy for its passengers and cargo. DEP means having multiple propellers and electric motors on the aircraft so if one or more propellers or motors fail, the other working propellers and motors can safely land the aircraft. There are also redundancies in the sub-systems of the aircraft.

SD-05 eVTOL two passenger aircraft (the two passenger aircraft is now defunct) landing on a vertipor

SD-05 eVTOL two passenger aircraft (the two passenger aircraft is now defunct) landing on a vertiport

Certification process
SkyDrive reported in the summer 2024, that the first flight is expected to type certified by the fall of 2024, with the aim of having the air taxi ready for demonstration flights at the 2025 World Expo in Osaka, Kansai, Japan. The company is aiming to receive dual type certification in both Japan’s Civil Aviation Bureau (JCAB) and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for the SD-05 production model. The plans to build two flight test aircraft in the near future.

Some advantages of the smaller SD-05 passenger eVTOL aircraft
Company representatives have stated that a shorter range and lighter aircraft mean less electricity is needed, so the aircraft is less expensive to operate than larger, longer-range air taxis. In Japan, potential customers have expressed they need air taxi service from building to building and like the lighter SD-05 aircraft because larger passenger eVTOL aircraft are too heavy to land safely on top of buildings.

November 2024 pre-order announcement
Based in South Carolina, USA, SAI Flight Services, a private jet charter operator, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with SkyDrive, with a pre-order 10 SkyDrive SD-05 passenger eVTOL aircraft and establish commercial air taxi routes within the state.

Applications for the aircraft
The company expects the SD-05 to be used where geographical conditions don't allow for efficient public transportation or where there is very little to no public transportation. For example, a useful and efficient air taxi service would be tourist islands where they only have slow boat transportation available. The company also foresees their aircraft to be useful for emergency medical services and urban building to building flight routes.

SD-05 on veriport

SD-05 on veriport

SD-05 interior view

SD-05 interior view

SD-05 side view

SD-05 side view

Specifications:

  • Aircraft type: Passenger eVTOL production aircraft
  • Piloting: 1 pilot
  • Capacity: 2 passengers and their luggage
  • Maximum cruise speed: 100 km/h (62 mph)
  • Maximum range: 10 kilometers (6.2 miles)
  • Flight time: 5-10 minutes
  • Maximum takeoff weight: 1,100 kilograms (2,425 pounds)
  • Propellers: 12 propellers
  • Electric motors: 12 electric motors
  • Power source: Batteries
  • Fuselage: Carbon fiber composite, aluminum alloy and other materials
  • Dimensions: 13 m X 13 m X 3 m (43 ft X 43 ft X 10 ft) including rotors
  • Windows: Panoramic wrap around windows allowing forward, left, right visibility for spectacular views with a solid roof above the passenger compartment
  • Tail: A modified boom mounted tail.  Extending from the rear of the fuselage are two rear vertical booms that connect to a downward sloping horizontal stabilizer with vertical fins on each end of the horizontal stabilizer.
  • Landing gear: Fixed skid landing gear, at the rear of each skid is an angled-outward vertical fin
  • 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 or motors fail, the other working propellers and motors can safely land the aircraft. There are also redundancies in the sub-systems of the aircraft.

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