Larger HSVTOL aircraft would be crewed, but still capable of conducting autonomous operations. On the low end, the HSVTOL aircraft would be uncrewed and applied to missions such as loyal wing, rescue and logistics. In all, Bell is studying “30 or 40 concepts” within this family of HSVTOL aircraft, said Nissen. ![]() First revealed in August 2021, Bell has described its proposal as a “family of scalable aircraft concepts” ranging from 4,000 lb (1,814 kg) to 100,000 lb (45,359 kg) in gross weight. Eventually, AFWERX will select a handful for full-scale prototyping.īell has submitted a concept for a family of HSVTOL aircraft for the AFWERX program. The companies have until June 30 to complete the concept development effort in Phase 1, before a subset will progress to Phase 2 - risk reduction and design. Jeff Nissen, senior manager for advanced technology and HSVTOL program manager at Bell, agreed, telling Vertiflite that the AFWERX Challenge was “a really good way of driving competition through this process.” The proposals submitted by the 11 companies - American Aerospace Engineering, Astro Aerospace, Bell, Continuum Dynamics, Jaunt, Jetoptera, Piasecki, Transcend Air, Valkyrie, VerdeGo and Whisper - include designs for HSVTOL aircraft and propulsion systems. “By connecting a well-educated and focused team inside of AFWERX with the private sector, they’re trying to meet the goal of moving fast,” Jason O’Neill, COO of Astro Aerospace, said in a conversation with Vertiflite. Of these, AFWERX has now selected 11 for investment in Phase 1 of the program.Ĭompetitors in the program have praised AFWERX’s approach to soliciting a broad base of ideas and encouraging collaboration. The initial call for ideas resulted in 218 proposals, which AFWERX narrowed to a preliminary 35 solutions in August 2021 (see “ Air Force Challenges Industry for High-Speed VTOL,” Vertiflite, Sept/Oct 2021). The HSVTOL program seeks to develop an aircraft that could eventually replace the Air Force’s CV-22 Osprey, one that can fly on the order of 400 kt (740 km/h) and conduct a range of missions such as personnel infiltration, tactical mobility and aeromedical evacuation. Initiated in the spring of 2021 as the High-Speed VTOL Challenge, the effort is a collaboration between AFWERX, the Air Force’s innovation hub, and US Special Operations Command (SOCOM). ![]() In January, the US Air Force selected 11 companies to proceed with the conceptual development of a high-speed vertical takeoff and landing (HSVTOL) aircraft. The first production processes are expected to start in 2024, and Horizon hopes to sell the X5 first as a kit plane in the amateur-built experimental category by this time.Air Force Picks 11 Companies for High-Speed VTOL Program Right now, the Horizon Aircraft is working on a 1:6 scale version with the nearest plans to begin testing its systems and software and to have a half-scale machine built in the next 12 months. Lots of fun, and an appropriately anti-gravitational name for a vertical-lift five-seater like this, the Cavorite X5. Thus, Cavor uses it as the heart of a fin-de-seicle spacecraft, opening and closing windows in a shielding mechanism surrounding a Cavorite sphere and effectively controlling the effects of gravity itself as a propulsion system. Cavor, which, when cool, is able to cancel out the effects of gravity on anything it covers. In the book, it's a metal alloy, created by a Mr. ![]() Wells in his 1901 book The First Men in the Moon. They claim that to be a totally unique path to the emerging market.Ĭavorite is a word invented by H.G. Recently they presented Cavorite X5, a 5-seat hybrid eVTOL design with a wicked-cool split-wing mechanism to transition between VTOL and horizontal flight. One more new project that seems interesting is the Horizon Aircraft from Canada.
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