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Trek Aerospace Dragonfly

Trek Aerospace Dragonfly one passenger VTOL aircraft

 

Dragonfly
Trek Aerospace, Inc.
Folsom, California, USA
www.trekaero.com

Founded in 1999, Trek Aerospace, Inc. is a small engineering company based in Folsom, California, USA. The company has designed and made multiple vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft including its exoskeleton jetpacks using shrouded propellers in the airframe design. The company has also designed and made watercraft. Trek Aerospace also assists companies in the design, fabrication, and licensing of projects involving shrouded propellers and/or autonomous control systems.

The company states their core technology has the highest thrust to hp/kw in the industry. This allows their aircraft to carry a lot of weight in a smaller footprint. Trek’s shrouded props require less power, use fewer batteries than other battery powered aircraft, have a greater payload and have a farther range.

The one passenger VTOL Dragonfly™ began development in 2004 with multiple missions in mind for the aircraft, including passenger and air cargo missions. Dragonfly™ UMR-1 is based on the research done with DARPA and NASA on the Springtail™ EFV and was originally designed as an uncrewed air cargo aircraft over 41 cubic feet of capacity. In addition, the plan was always to have have the aircraft to be flown either with a pilot or remotely with no crew. Even though the original aircraft was a VTOL aircraft with gears and shafts turning the propellers, the company can easily reconfigure the aircraft to be a hybrid-electric VTOL aircraft or an all-electric VTOL aircraft.

The maximum speed of the aircraft 235 mph (378 km/h), with a range of over 575 miles (Over 925 km) with a maximum altitude: 12,900 ft (3,900 m). The aircraft has two main ducted fans for all modes of flight with a canopy over the cockpit, rear tilted downward wings and has fixed skid type landing gear. The aircraft was originally made to be crewed or remotely flown. The powered-lift VTOL configuration makes this vehicle extremely maneuverable and agile. With its small footprint, the aircraft can park easily at a small vertiport, stored on a ship or in a standard sized garage.

If the aircraft is ever put in service, the company foresees the aircraft for air taxi service, personal air transportation, tourism, agriculture, livestock management, surveillance missions, geophysical surveying, security missions, police work, fire fighting, emergency medical service, government work, military missions and more.

While the company has not stated this aircraft will be reinstated into the emerging eVTOL industry, it has the option to do so.

Dragonfly top view

Dragonfly top view

Dragonfly interior

Dragonfly interior

Dragonfly with stretcher

Dragonfly with stretcher

Specifications:

  • Aircraft type: Hybrid-electric VTOL or eVTOL passenger aircraft
  • Piloting: 1 pilot
  • Maximum speed: 235 mph (378 km/h)
  • Range: Over 575 miles (Over 925 km)
  • Maximum altitude: 12,900 ft (3,900 m)
  • Empty weight: 490 lb (222 kg)
  • Maximum payload: 450 lb (204 kg)
  • Maximum takeoff weight: 1,070 lb (485 kg)
  • Propellers: 2 ducted fans
  • Electric Motors: 2 electric motors
  • Power source: Hybrid-electric
  • Fuselage: Carbon fiber composite
  • Windows: Canopy over cockpit
  • Wings: Rear stub downward tilted wings
  • Landing gear: Fixed skid landing gear with four fixed wheels

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