Air Race E: the Vertical Class

Dean Sigler Batteries, Electric Powerplants, Fuel Cells, Hydrogen Fuel, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

“The electric VTOL class is an entirely different category of aircraft altogether. Often referred as “flying cars”, this type or aircraft is at the forefront of electric technology in aerospace. Brace yourself for The World’s First Vertical Motorsport! This race format and its rules will be somewhat different than the airplane classes and will be revealed soon.”  Air Race E promotion. Possible Contenders The Alauda Airspeeder Two possible contenders (mostly) ready to race come to our attention.  The first is the Alauda Airspeeder, shown here in its Mk. 3 version. And by dint of the International Dateline, the craft’s most recent flight came to us the same day it was recorded. One may question how open-rotor racing at high speed can be made safe.  Alauda alludes to Acronis Cloud Protection.  “The racing series, created by performance electric flying car manufacturer Alauda, will receive technical and commercial support from Acronis, with some of the services delivered by a global provider of …

Faster, Cleaner AND Less Pricey?

Dean Sigler Electric Powerplants, Sky Taxis, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

University of Michigan Research Sprinkled with Optimism (or Not) Can electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing (eVTOL) machines provide the swift crossing of  urban distances at a price that will attract the non-flying public? Can they do so while keeping pollution in check? A University of Michigan study, funded in part by Ford Motors, concluded that taking a short (depending on definition) trip in an autonomous electric vertical takeoff and landing machine might not only be quicker than a ground-bound journey through gridlock, but might even be less expensive.  These two factors are important if we are clean  the toxic atmosphere that hangs over our major cities, at least partly brought about by the constant transit of personal automobiles, public buses, and large trucks.  Another aspect of the study, though, showed that certain trips will be less polluting if taken by conventional automobiles.  This dichotomy comes from the nature of eVTOL flight compared to the distances to be traveled. Researchers published …