Some might say, “better late than never,” as Airbus puts a marker down on the eVTOL industry this week after presenting — with great fanfare at its new test centre in the town of Donauwörth, Germany — a prototype of its electric CityAirbus NextGen. And to add spice to proceedings a proviso: a promise of a maiden flight later this year.
The two-tonne class CityAirbus has “a lift and cruise” concept; a wing span of close to 12 metres; a flight range of 80 km; and a cruise speed of 120 km/h making it well-suited for a variety of operations in major cities and suburbs.
The 10,700-sq. ft Donauwörth Centre is part of Airbus’ ongoing and long-term investment in Advanced Air Mobility (AAM), which will now be used for the remaining trials required before the prototype’s maiden flight. These tests cover the electric motors with their eight rotors as well as the aircraft’s other systems such as flight controls and avionics.
In fact, the intention is for the Centre to be dedicated to testing systems for all of the manufacturer’s future eVTOL vehicles.
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Balkiz Sarihan, Head of Urban Air Mobility at Airbus, commented, “Rolling out CityAirbus NextGen for the very first time is an important and real step that we are taking towards Advanced Air Mobility and our future product and market.”
The release states, “At the same time, Airbus is expanding its global network and partnerships to create a unique ecosystem that will foster a successful and viable AAM market. Airbus recently signed a partnership agreement with LCI, a leading aviation company, to focus on the development of partnership scenarios and business models in three core AAM areas: strategy, commercialisation and financing.”
So, what has been the initial reaction?
While the media has an array of new photos as well as a three minute video to splash the internet, an immediate reaction on Youtube to the prototype, for example, has not been favourable.
Solid1378 writes, “Why are the wings & fuselage so huge, compared to other drone taxis?” Georgecerda6727 follows this up, “It looks so bad. Seems like it only fits one person and has a footprint the size of a larger plane. Why not just make a helicopter at this point?” TheMojojara even pooh-poohs the video, “Those 3 minutes felt so long and boring…” Only Yannlecadet485 gives it the thumbs up.
While the initial trial phase will be remotely piloted, Airbus has been clear from the outset that its plan is to enter the eVTOL market with a piloted product. This flight test campaign will take place in parallel with the development of technologies to be incorporated into the aircraft, such as the Millennium Single Stick Control and Vertex Autonomy System.
Airbus is also working to develop a broader AAM ecosystem in different global regions, by signing a number of collaborations.
Apart from LCI, these include agreements with Chilean operator Ecocopter; Saudi Arabia’s The Helicopter Company; and Japanese operator Hiratagakuen. Airbus has also partnered with the Norwegian Air Ambulance Foundation to explore the use of CityAirbus NextGen for emergency medical services.
For more information
https://www.airbus.com/en/innovation/low-carbon-aviation/urban-air-mobility/cityairbus-nextgen
