Stuttgart Aerospace Hephestos

Hephestos
Stuttgart Aerospace
Waiblingen, Germany
www.stuttgartaerospace.com

Founded by Petros Tsolis (CEO, engineer, pilot), Stuttgart Aerospace is prolific in creating multiple unique electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOL) concept designs for a wide range of uses, from personal air travel, to urban air taxis, cargo transportation, fire fighting and to emergency medial service (ems). We've counted at least seven different eVTOL designs that Stuttgart Aerospace has designed. The reason Tsolis started the company, is to create clean and safe eVTOL aircraft for Urban Air Mobility (UAM) and to reduce the time and stress that people currently experience, when driving cars to work. The company is still in the planning stages to manufacture eVTOL aircraft and are looking for investors. 
  
Stuttgart Aerospace argues the point that the key to make Urban Air Mobility practical, useful, affordable and made into reality as soon as possible, is that the entire UAM industry needs to focus on using our current infrastructure, from our personal homes (apartments, condos), to all the buildings and structures in our cities, instead of building multiple costly and time consuming vertiports in every city. This way, as soon as eVTOL aircraft are certified airworthy and safe, the general population, businesses and governments, can immediately take advantage of electric UAM in all cities.

The company states that using our current infrastructure for Urban Air Mobility will be a key factor in keeping the cost down to the consumer and businesses, who want to use urban air travel to their advantage. Because of this, the company has proposed that their aircraft will be in direct competition with car manufacturers. A Stuttgart Aerospace online video reveals their Eolos Model 2 aircraft will be able to land in very small spaces, such as landing in a courtyard next to a building or in a standard parking space. The video also shows that they propose their aircraft will be able to negotiate very close flying next to buildings and skyscrapers, in any city. 

The Hephestos eVTOL aircraft is a modern and unique multicopter design, it's an all-electric aircraft, has a low acoustic signature, and the battery can be charged in 30 minutes. While not much is known about this fire fighting eVTOL, it has been designed to fight fires using an aggressive fire fighting nozzle to put out fires in tall urban buildings as well as fires in hard to reach areas which can't easily be serviced by fire trucks. If one looks closely at the graphic, it looks like the fire fighting nozzle is a telescopic design, allowing the nozzle to be closer to the fire while keeping the aircraft as far away as possible from the flames. Stuttgart Aerospace has consulted with local fire departments when they were designing the fire fighting eVTOL aircraft. 

As the Eolos Model 2 eVTOL lands on the bottom of its rotating ducted fan nozzles, this aircraft might have the same feature of landing on the bottom of its ducted fans. If this aircraft has this landing gear feature, this would simplify the aircraft keeping manufacturing costs down as well as maintenance costs down. 

The aircraft most likely has multiple safety devices including an emergency whole aircraft rescue parachute systems, pop-out flotation devices and can land with only two of its motors running. The company has not provided any projections when prototypes or production models are expected to be made for the Hephestos; however, one of the company's prototypes is projected to debut in the fall of 2021.

Specifications:

• Aircraft type: eVTOL fire fighting aircraft 
• Piloting: Piloted or autonomous 
• Capacity: Unknown 
• Cruise speed: Unknown
• Ducted propellers: 4 sets of ducted propellers 
• Propellers: 4 propellers 
• Electric Motors: 4 electric motors 
• Power source: Batteries, batteries fully recharge in 30 minutes. The aircraft can accept multiple power sources, such as a turbine engine which creates electricity for the propellers. 
• Windows: Panoramic windows with wrap around window design allowing forward, left, right and top visibility
• Landing gear: Aircraft lands on its ducted fan nacelles or has retractable landing gear 
• Safety Features: Distributed Electric Propulsion (DEP), provides safety through redundancy for its passengers and/or cargo. DEP means having multiple propellers and motors on the aircraft so if one or more motors or propellers fail, the other working motors and propellers can safely land the aircraft. The aircraft can land with two of its motors running. Has an emergency parachute if there is a complete power failure. 

Resources:

• Stuttgart Aerospace website   
• Stuttgart Aerospace YouTube Channel 
• Stuttgart Aerospace Instagram 
• Stuttgart Engineering website