Elytron 2S Prototype 11 (experimental)

Elytron 2S P Prototype 11 (experimental)
Elytron Aircraft LLC (out of business)
Hayward, California, USA

Elytron Aircraft was founded in 2013 by Gregory Bruell and Oliver Garrow in Hayward, California, USA. The company has since gone out of business. The goal was to create several sizes of aircraft for different air missions that can take off like a helicopter but travel at the speeds of an airplane using the combination of a tilt-wing with a box-wing. One of the main distinguishing features of the aircraft was the box-wing configuration which some aviators have proposed is the best wing system that has a minimum amount of drag caused by the wings themselves (called induced drag).

The company designed the full scale Elytron 2S two passenger flying prototype as an all-turbine powered vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (VTOL) aircraft with mechanical power distribution. The future production aircraft were specifically designed as hybrid-electric VTOL aircraft with distributed electric propulsion (DEP) for advanced air mobility (AAM). The company built and flew multiple proof-of-concept aircraft and one full scale prototype aircraft.

Prototype flight testing
Since 2009, the company has built and flown 17 prototype electric or hybrid-electric VTOL subscale and full scale aircraft and at least 15 of them have had an all electric power source. All prototypes made up to and including 2023 are uncrewed except for the Elytron subscale prototype which holds two people.

Some history of the Garrow Aircraft, Elyton Aircraft and Transcend prototypes:

• Garrow Aircraft: Proto 1. The first VTOL drone design was a made on a napkin in 2009 of a hybrid-electric VTOL passenger aircraft. The concept design was a delta wing with 3 VTOL propellers.
• Garrow Aircraft: Proto 2. VTOL drone aircraft.
• Garrow Aircraft: Proto 3. VTOL drone with 2 tilt-props, 1 main wing, 1 vertical stabilizer, fixed tricycle wheeled landing gear.
• Garrow Aircraft: Proto 4. Delta-wing and canard VTOL with 2 VTOL propellers within the fuselage of the aircraft
• Garrow Aircraft: Proto 5. Delta-wing and canard VTOL with 1 VTOL propellers within the fuselage of the aircraft
• Garrow Aircraft: Proto 6. VTOL drone with 2 VTOL propellers within the high main wing with 1 pusher propeller in front of the rear conventional tail with fixed tricycle wheeled landing gear.
• Garrow Aircraft: Proto 7. VTOL flying-wing fuselage with winglets
• Garrow Aircraft: Proto 8. VTOL box-wing design, fixed tricycle wheeled landing gear.
• Elytron Aircraft: Proto 9. Unknown
• Elytron Aircraft: Proto 10. Unknown
• Elytron Aircraft: Proto 11: Elytron 2S Proto 11 crewed aircraft
• Elytron Aircraft: Proto 12. VTOL 2 propeller tiltwing box-wing with fixed tricycle wheeled landing gear
• Transcend Air Corporation: Proto 13: VTOL open framed fuselage with 2 propellers at the end of the foward main tiltwing with a rear H-tail
• Transcend Air Corporation: Proto 14: 1/5 subscale Vy 400 (does not weight 350 lb), VTOL tiltwing with H-tail.
• Transcend Air Corporation: Proto 15: 1/5 subscale Vy 400, first flight September 5, 2018 (does not weight 350 lb) VTOL tiltwing with H-tail and fixed skid landing gear.
• Transcend Air Corporation: Proto 16: First flight January 19, 2019
• Transcend Air Corporation: Proto 17: Risk Reduction Test Vehicle (RRTV), first flight July 31, 2023

Elytron 2S Prototype 11 hybrid-electric VTOL passenger prototype experimental aircraft
The Elytron 2S Prototype 11 hybrid-electric VTOL passenger full scale prototype experimental aircraft variant. The aircraft has two seats and is a crewed aircraft that weighs 2,000 lb (907 kg) and uses a gasoline engine for its power source. In biology, elytron is the name of a wing case for a beetle. The wing case protects the wings of a beetle when it is not in flight.

There is a canopy over the cockpit which hinges on the rear of the canopy window. The aircraft has two main propellers for VTOL and forward flight. The propellers are mounted on two short small stub tilt-wings allowing the aircraft to fly in any direction whether vertically or in forward flight. The propellers are located in the middle of the box wing. The box wing forms at the bottom front of the fuselage and ends near the rear of the aircraft. The rear portion of the box wing is held to the rear fuselage by a vertical stabilizer. The aircraft has fixed tricycle wheeled landing gear.

Specifications:

• Aircraft type: Experimental Elytron 2S Proto 11 (Prototype 11) hybrid-electric VTOL passenger full scale experimental aircraft variant
• Piloting: 1 pilot or 2 pilots
• Cruise speed: Unknown
• Empty weight: 2,000 lb (907 kg)
• Propellers: 2 propellers
• Electric motors: 2 electric motors
• Power source: Hybrid-electric power source (gasoline engine)
• Fuselage: Unknown
• Window: Canopy over cockpit
• Wings: 1 box wing, 1 stub tilt-wing, 1 vertical stabilizer
• Landing gear: Fixed tricycle wheeled landing gear

Related Aircraft:

• Elytron Aircraft Elytron 4S (concept design)
• Elytron Aircraft Elytron 10S (concept design)

Resources:

• Elytron Aircraft LLC website (no website, defunct company)
• Elytron Aircraft LLC Facebook
• U.S. Air Force AFWERX program Wikipedia
• Article: Vy 400, Future Flight, date unknown
• Article: Transcend Air announces “affordable” city-to-city VTOL aircraft, Vertical Magazine, June 28, 2018
• Article: New York to Boston in 36 minutes thanks to VTOL air taxi, says Transcend Air, New Atlas, June 29, 2018
• Article: Transcend Air and Lily Helipads announce zero-emission landing spots, Vertical Magazine, May 17, 2019
• Article: Transcend Air Enters Agreement with GE Aviation as Engine Supplier for the Groundbreaking Vy 400 High Speed VTOL Aircraft, Business Wire, Aug. 10, 2021
• Article: Kaman Aerospace Group, Inc. selected by Transcend Air to build the Vy 400 High Speed VTOL Aircraft, Nasdaq, Aug. 12, 2021
• Article: Transcend’s New VTOL Just Got a Powerful Makeover, Robb Report, Sept. 30, 2021
• Article: Transcend Air Receives Market Research Investment to Advance U.S. DoD High-Speed VTOL Capabilities, EIN Presswire, Jan. 28, 2022
• Article: Transcend Air advances in AFWERX HSVTOL Concept Challenge, Vertical Magazine, Feb. 1, 2022
• Article: Marines Want VTOL Family of Systems for Future Vertical Lift, U.S. Naval Institute, Feb. 9, 2022
• Article: U.S. Air Force Funds Transcend Air for More Work on VTOL Operations, FutureFlight, June 21, 2022
• Article: Tiltwing plane company Transcend Air intends to initiate FAA certification ‘soon,’ founders say, Aerospace America, Feb. 17, 2023
• Article: Transcend Air Taps IAI North America as Defense Partner, Business Wire, May 8, 2023