German urban air mobility developer Volocopter introduced its fourth-generation electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOL) design on Wednesday.
The VoloCity, which is intended for use as an urban air taxi, is expected to have a range of 35 km (19 NM), a top airspeed of 110 km/h (59 knots), and a payload capable of accommodating two people and “hand luggage.” Design updates include aerodynamically shaped rotor beams and a new stabilizer.
The learnings of over 1,000 test flights on previous Volocopter generations and market research with several hundred potential customers have informed the design and technical specifications of the VoloCity. The result is an aircraft with visible improvements that still stays true to the well-known Volocopter technical and safety features: 18 rotors, redundancy in all critical systems, a low noise signature and a rigid commitment to the inner-city mission. Features include:
Payload to accommodate 2 people including hand luggage
Increased flight efficiency through aerodynamically shaped rotor beams, a newly introduced stabilizer to create increased stability in flight and additional lift
Iconic design with fluid lines is a seamless continuation of architectural language of the future VoloPort all the while combining unprecedented technological achievements and user comfort
“The VoloCity is our most powerful Volocopter yet. It is rigorously designed to meet the demands of Urban Air Mobility and incorporates all requirements of the SC-VTOL certification standard established by EASA in July 2019. It is a result of all insights we have gathered from our extensive testing programmes over the past years.” says Florian Reuter, CEO of Volocopter.
Volocopter wrote aviation history with the first manned flight of an electrically powered vertical take-off and landing aircraft in 2011. Since then, the German company has developed three generations of aircraft and performed public flights most notably in Dubai in 2017 and during CES in Las Vegas in 2018.
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