teTra 3
teTra 3
teTra Aviation Corporation
Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan
www.tetra-aviation.com
On January 16, 2018, GFPUT (a temporary name) was launched to study a one passenger electric vertical and takeoff (eVTOL) aircraft. In June 2018, teTra Aviation Corporation was established by Yui Nakai, President, and a doctoral student at the University of Tokyo. The company started with ¥1 million in and went on to raise ¥50 million to continue their work.
The teTra MK-3 has two pairs of ducted propellers set at 50–70° to one another. A small windscreen on the upper surface of the wing protects the pilot.
“The banked rotor layout enables this vehicle to fly in a vertical and horizontal [attitude], without any change in the configuration or any change in control. So, it doesn’t really have a transition state,”
The company has stated they want to manufacture and sell their 1.65 m high (5.4 feet) X 2.2 meters wide (7.2 feet) X 2 meters long (6.6 feet) one passenger aircraft to people around the world. The teTra flies using two pairs of ducted propellers, set 50–70° to one another. This design lends the aircraft one of its unique features: it lacks a transition state between vertical and horizontal flight, and is able to switch between the two with no change to the aircraft's configuration. The pilot gets on the aircraft the same way a person does when getting on a motorcycle.
After testing the propellers in simulations, the team constructed an eighth scale prototype and half scale prototype of the aircraft. They later successfully constructed and tested three full scale prototypes, the last of which was flown at the February 2020 GoFly Fly Off.
teTra Aviation Corporation has participated in all phases of the GoFly Prize contest and was selected as a Phase I winner on June 14, 2018. On February 29, 2020, Team teTra won the $100,000.00 USD Pratt & Whitney Disruptor Prize for its teTra 3 hybrid-electric vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft at Moffett Federal Airfield at the NASA Ames Research Center. The team performed a brief unmanned demonstration flight of the aircraft, and was one of the only teams permitted to fly that day. Due to windy conditions in February, many teams competing during the Phase III trials did not fly their aircraft and as of February 2020, the $1 million GoFly Prize has been postponed.
In addition, the company’s website states they are also in the business of consulting, design, research and development, and prototyping eVTOL aircraft. The company’s goal is to market and sell their aircraft by 2025.
Specifications:
- Aircraft type: Hybrid-electric VTOL
- Piloting: Unknown
- Capacity: 1
- Propellers: 4
- Electric Motors: 4
- Cruising speed: 100 kp/h (62 mph)
- Cruising altitude: 30 m (98 feet)
- Wing: 1 main mid wing
- Dimensions: 1.65 m high (5.4 feet) X 2.2 meters wide (7.2 feet) X 2 meters long (6.6 feet)
- Landing gear: Skid type.
Company Insights:
Resources:
- teTra Aviation Corporation www.tetra-aviation.com
- teTra Gofly website
- teTra Aviation Corporation Twitter
- teTra Aviation Corporation LinkedIn
- Article: Meet the Teams, GoFly Prize, Dec. 27, 2018
- Press Release: GoFly Winners, GoFly Prize, June 14, 2018
- Article: Boeing’s $2 Million Challenge to Make the Sky Fun Again—With ‘Flying Motorbikes’, Wired, June 14, 2018
- Article: Boeing Asked for Quiet Jetpacks and Got a Bunch of Air Motorcycles, Bloomberg, June 14, 2018
- Article: Contest Aims to Lift Personal Flying Machines Off the Page, The New York Times, June 14, 2018
- Article: Here are the Finalists for Boeing’s $2 million ‘Personal Flying Device’ Contest, The Verge, June 14, 2018
- Article: Meet the Mad Geniuses Building Personal Flying Machines, Fast Company, June 14, 2018
- Video: teTra Simulation Model Version 2.0, teTra, Mar. 26, 2018
- Article: Young engineers vie to revolutionize aviation with designs for next-generation manned flying
cars, The Japan News, Feb. 4, 2020 - Video: teTra teTra 3 GoFly Prize, wcolby, Feb. 28, 2020
- Articles: Flying car Todai company wins international competition, Nikkei, Mar. 3, 2020
- Article: AHS Supports GoFly!, Vertiflite, Nov/Dec 2017
- Article: Flying Solo: GoFly Advances Single-Passenger Air Mobility Solutions, Vertiflite, May/June 2019
- Article: GoFly Inspires Innovation, Vertiflite, May/June 2020
- Article: GoFly Teams Prepare to Fly Again, Vertiflite, Nov/Dec 2020
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