All flying transports. Lilium Jet - the flying personal transport of the future

On March 30 of this year, a very interesting event took place in Germany, which for some reason went almost unnoticed. The first flight of a very interesting device called the Volocopter, or rather the VC200 Volocopter, which its German creators dubbed White Lady, took place.

The design of the new type of aircraft is a multicopter, or more precisely, a hybrid of a helicopter and a drone. The double cabin is made of carbon fiber, which virtually eliminates all vibrations and noise inside. The helicopter cabin, which stands on two skis - runners, is joined by 6 segments of “lobes”, with three electric rotors. All segments with 18 rotors form a complete circle. The failure of one or even 2-3 rotors can have virtually no effect on flight safety, except that it will only affect the speed of an unusual aircraft and its rate of climb.

According to the designers of the new type of equipment, anyone can master the control of a multicopter. The fact is that the copter is controlled through on-board computer, which regulates the rotation speed of a particular group of propellers. Thus, the joystick sends commands through the computer to the supporting rotors. According to the designers, even a child can handle the controls.

Any garage or even a shed is suitable for storing the Volocopter. The three engine sections are detachable from the cabin itself and take up very little space with it. The maximum take-off weight of the aircraft with two people is only 450 kg. At the same time, it can reach speeds of up to 100 km/h.

German aviation authorities did not know how to register the new kind aviation technology, and they had to come up with a new category. For now, the volocopter can be flown by pilots with a sports license, but, according to the designers, over time, the device will receive a recreational certificate, which means anyone can fly it with $340,000, and that is the price at which it will go on sale.

But, like any device with an electric drive, the VC200 has one very significant drawback: its flight time is still limited by the capacity of the on-board batteries and is only 20 minutes. The creators of “White Lady” promise to increase the flight time to one hour.

Despite all the advantages and unusual design, for now this is nothing more than another environmental toy for rich extreme sports enthusiasts.

At the HeliRussia 2106 exhibition, at the stand of the company that started producing Volocoptera, only promotional videos and postcards with minimal information about the car were presented. Probably, the creators of the device were not able to send the car to the exhibition, and perhaps it is still in a single copy.

Autonomous flying cars are being designed by Hoversurf. These guys are known for their flying Scorpion 3 Hoverbike and their acclaimed flight videos in Dubai. Now the company is preparing for mass production of hoverbikes, collecting pre-orders: about 2,000 people have already submitted applications. But this is the firstborn of Hoversurf, a demonstrator of the team’s potential, intended primarily for lovers of extreme pastime. And today the walls of the company in Skolkovo are covered with diagrams and sketches of a completely different vehicle— the Hoversurf Formula unmanned flying car, the first prototype of which should take off in September.

Flight fans

We are sitting with the head of the company, Alexander Atamanov, in a new spacious office in Skolkovo, drinking tea and having conversations reminiscent of dialogues from the popular science novels of my childhood - with the difference that there is nothing fantastic in them, although it is difficult to believe. . “We used the hoverbike more as a technology development platform and a marketing tool. Thanks to YouTube videos, we were able to get reactions to flying vehicles from all over the world and used this feedback for our new developments.

First of all, to create a five-seater unmanned flying car, Hoversurf Formula. The evolution of “Formula” can be easily traced from the sketches that are hung on the walls of Alexander’s office.

First sketches. The only thing left from these sketches are the folding wings.

Based on concepts from two years ago, it is clear that the prototype was based on a propeller-driven quadcopter design and resembled a large Scorpion 3 with a passenger cabin. But the response from enthusiasts around the world has shown that propellers are a stopping factor for most people. Screws spinning near a person are terrifying. Therefore, Alexander switched to a propellerless design. Instead of propellers, they decided to use blocks of electric fans in ring fairings made using EDF (Electric Ducted Fan) technology. the main problem EDF fan - low efficiency. However, Atamanov’s company managed to improve it to the level of a classic propeller: they changed the annular fairing, cutting additional air intake slots in it. Thanks to the Venturi effect, efficiency has risen to an acceptable level. The result is a compact small electric propulsion unit that will replace propellers. The Formula uses 52 EDF fans of the same type. This makes the system more expensive, but reduces the weight and complexity of the design, which is very important in aircraft.

Not planes, not helicopters

Experts have no doubt that in the foreseeable future we will begin to travel in unmanned electric flying cars. Today, there is a huge amount of development in this area in the world, from garage experiments of single enthusiasts to projects of aerospace monsters like Airbus. Just as in the early days of the automobile industry, there are now all sorts of forms of future transportation. What they have in common is that the car must take off vertically, since there is almost no place to land in the city. Most developers start from the premise that in the near future there will be heliports on the roofs of buildings. In principle, there is already a transport for this concept - a helicopter. But it is expensive, difficult to maintain and unsafe for others: the spinning blades will shred an unwary passenger no worse than rotating katanas.

The folding wing hinges are based on proven technologies from carrier-based aircraft. So reliability should be fine.

That's why some companies take the fans up and enclose them in ring fairings, like Airbus with its PopUp project. The main problems of this scheme are: high consumption energy, low speed and low wind resistance - drone pilots know how easy it is to lose them even in light winds. More and more designers are coming to the understanding that the device should take off vertically, like a helicopter, and move in an economical mode horizontally, like an airplane. In principle, such a vehicle already exists - it is a tiltrotor, for example the Bell V-22 Osprey, which first took to the air in 1989. Despite a fairly long service life, the designers failed to make a reliable aircraft - tiltrotors occupy the sad first place among aircraft accidents: over the past seven years, 10 aircraft out of 200 produced were lost. The mechanism for turning the propulsors turned out to be very complex and unreliable, and the problem with flight instability at the moment when the tiltrotor switched to airplane mode was not fully resolved. Nevertheless, such a scheme for flying cars is provided in the European Airbus Vahana, the American Joby Aviation S2 and the German Lilium. However, the listed devices will not become flying cars for a simple reason: they cannot use city infrastructure and park in existing parking lots.

Hoversurf engineers fit all their flying vehicles into a standard parking space. Formula uses a regular car parking lot for takeoff and landing. For comparison, the contours of the closest competitors: E-volo, Lilium Jet and EHang.

Like a bird

The Hoversurf company initially set itself a difficult task: the devices had to take off from a regular parking space. This limitation largely determined the architecture of Formula. The 48 turbines hidden in the fairing racks operate only in copter mode - during takeoff, landing and slow maneuvering in hovering mode. For horizontal flight, a folding wing and only four pusher turbines are used. This scheme, as Atamanov expects, will make it possible to achieve a flight range of 450 km. Questions immediately arise with the reliability of the wing folding units, especially since the main electrically driven hinge works constantly: the wing is dynamic. Thanks to this hinge, engineers abandoned the mechanization of the wing: ailerons, slats and flaps are not needed, you can simply change the angle of attack of the wing, like a bird. Apparently, I'm not the first to ask questions about the reliability of the hinges. Firstly, Atamanov says, the load on the wing is much less than that of existing tiltrotors: there is no need to turn heavy engines, there are no complex moving joints of fuel lines, and there is no mechanization of the wing. Secondly, the rotating wing assembly is not only very simple, but uses already proven carrier-based aviation technologies.

To print

Besides the unusual appearance, “Formula” is interesting due to its latest technologies. Almost all of its elements will be printed with carbon-filled fiber on a special giant 3D printer, which is being built specifically for this project at Skolkovo. These are real elements with calculated loads that allow you to assemble finished products. Similarly, 3D printers will be used to print metal parts such as fan impellers and rotors. The external parts will be coated with an amazing new coating - polyurea, which makes the surface very smooth and adds additional strength.

Manufacturer and developer: Hoversurf, Russia

• Speed: up to 320 km/h
• Range: 450 km
• Capacity: 5 people
• Safety:
• 1st level - the ability to fly with half of the turbines.
• 2nd level - automatic planning.
• 3rd level - automatic parachute system.

The first test flight of the five-seater Formula is planned for September this year, with another couple of years planned for certification. At the same time, the company will begin working on a dispatch program that will control drones in the sky and will completely eliminate the most big problem transport - the human factor. True, the Formula will have to be tested abroad: the Russian authorities are not taking the initiative to introduce personal drones. So Alexander Atamanov considers the UAE, Singapore and the USA to be the first countries where passenger drone taxis will appear. It’s no wonder that Atamanov’s Hoverbike flew the most hours in Dubai.

Illustrations: Hoversurf

Congestion highways forces people to master new types of air transport, which include the flying car.

The intensification of developments of this type is explained by the fact that compared to helicopters they have a number of advantages:

• efficiency - such vehicles run on electricity, which is much more profitable;
• mobility – can be used even in city conditions;
• safety - the likelihood of such a device crashing is much lower than that of a helicopter;
• affordable price - in the future, everyone will be able to afford such a purchase.

Atamanov's flying machine is an industry leader

One might assume that the leaders in this industry are American corporations and private developers. But no! Russia in this segment is not only not inferior, but even ahead of the United States. Such a strong position is ensured by the company Hoversurf, whose head is Alexander Atamanov. This company has already managed to make a splash with its flying Scorpion 3 Hoverbike, whose flight videos collect millions of views and likes on Youtube.

Domestic innovators have not only developed and built an interesting concept, they are actively promoting it to the masses. Confirmation is the fact that the company is preparing for mass production of hoverbikes; 2,000 buyers have already sent requests to purchase new items on pre-order. First of all, transport is designed for buyers who prefer active recreation and extreme entertainment, but in the future the lineup will expand significantly.

Development prospects

Already now, in the company’s office in Skolkovo, the walls are covered with drawings of the new Hoversurf Formula model. This is a five-seater self-driving car that travels through the air. Initially, it was supposed to be made using a propeller design, but marketing research has shown that the presence of a rotating propeller in the immediate vicinity of passengers is negative factor upon implementation. That's why it was chosen Alternative option– blocks of electric fans in annular fairings made using EDF (Electric Ducted Fan) technology. However, this technology has significantly lower efficiency. The problem was solved by creating additional air intake holes in the annular fairing. The result is a compact vehicle that can fly over a distance of 450 km. To achieve this result, a non-standard design was used: 48 turbines that operate in copter mode are placed in fairing stands. For horizontal flight mode, a folding wing and 4 turbines are provided.

Science fiction works and films often tell us that in the future humanity will abandon wheeled transport and switch to flying cars. But time passes, and the airspace is crossed only by planes and helicopters. So when will flying cars appear?

Features of this type of transport

Ideally, a flying car is compact and does not require special conditions for takeoff. That is, it can simply be stored in the garage and take off directly from there. But the most important thing is that this type of transport should be accessible to the middle class of the population.

As a rule, most future car concepts involve the ability to travel both by air and by land. Controlling a flying car should be extremely simple and intuitive.

Do not forget that we are talking about technologies of the future, when they should appear new types of fuel and energy. Therefore, refueling or recharging a flying car should not cost a pretty penny. And the level of pollution environment for such a car should be kept to a minimum.

Modern developments in the direction of “road-air” transport are carried out taking into account the listed data, but the emphasis is mainly on ensuring that the car can at least take off into the air...

Existing models

Formally, flying cars already exist in the form of experimental models. From several dozen prototypes, we selected the three most promising.

Terrafugia TF-X

Manufacturers position their creation as the first in the world semi-autonomous hybrid flying car, and it largely corresponds to this formulation.

The advantage of this car is its ability to take off vertically. Movement is possible both by air and by land. By the way, it can accommodate up to four passengers.

The semi-automatic system reacts to obstacles and bad weather and independently lands in emergency situations, notifying air traffic controllers of your action. In addition, the TF-X is equipped with a parachute system.

Takeoff and landing will not require any special skills from the driver (pilot?) – the autopilot will be responsible for this. And the entire flight is mainly carried out under computer control, and the user only needs to set the destination. The system will calculate whether there is enough fuel and charge for the flight, and analyze the terrain and weather conditions.

Interestingly, the propellers that lift the car into the air are powered by electric motors, and the pusher propeller that provides forward movement is driven by a gas turbine. Thus, without recharging and refueling, the TF-X will be able to cover more than 800 km.

Now developers are working on solving issues such as increasing vehicle safety and simplifying handling.

So far, the estimated cost of the Terrafugia TF-X is close to $300,000, but the manufacturers promise that after some time it will be available at the price of a premium car.

Already in 2017, the Slovak company AeroMobil is preparing to sell flying cars of its own production.

This vehicle is designed for comfortable driving and flying. Immediately before takeoff, the Aeromobile’s wings “spread” on its sides. There can be no talk of taking off directly from the highway yet - for this you will have to use the runway of the nearest airfield. Accordingly, it is still impossible to do without a pilot’s license.

The cabin is designed for 2 people. Regular gasoline is used as fuel.

To improve flight performance, the body of this car is made of specially selected composite materials. In the air, AeroMobil can accelerate to 200 km/h and cover about 700 km. In the future it will be equipped with an autopilot.

Manufacturers say that the cost of a car-plane will be at the level of a sports car and a light aircraft.

And this flying car can be purchased today. The two-seater Transition can transform from a ground vehicle to an air vehicle in less than a minute.

The speed that the car reaches in flight can be 185 km/h, while the flight range is 790 km. Gasoline is used as fuel.

However, for a safe take-off, a level runway of 500 meters is required.

Terrafugia Transition is certified both as a vehicle for public roads and as a “light sport aircraft”.

The cost of this flying car is 280 thousand dollars.

Flying car 1946

The idea of ​​flying cars is by no means new. Already in the middle of the 20th century, engineers were seriously thinking about developing such a means of transportation. Moreover, a model was created that corresponded to the idea of ​​a flying car. Although it was more likely an airplane that transformed into a ground vehicle.

This is about, and it really deserves attention. The development of the Amphibian was undertaken by Robert Fulton in 1946. And in general, he managed to adapt the plane to the road.

This flying car has become first to be certified by the United States Aviation Administration.
To transform the car into an airplane, it was necessary to attach the wings and tail, and the propeller was attached to the fuselage.