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Engineers claim a new type of flying car could soon be able to transport passengers through the air using the latest in mobility technology.
On November 5, Austrian flying car component maker CycloTech unveiled designs for its new demonstration aircraft, called the “BlackBird,” a flying car that uses a custom-designed alternative to propellers.
The all-electric propulsion system, called the “CycloRotor,” is based on the Voith Schneider propeller (VSP) principle, which is often used on tugboats and ferries, CycloTech’s chief technology officer Tahsin Kart said in a promotional video. It’s a round rotor with small blades that spin and can be used for both propulsion and steering.
CycloTech said in a statement that by changing the blades' center of rotation, the aircraft can change its airspeed and direction. Each blade can also tilt to create directional thrust, like an airplane wing, and can be fine-tuned to control the aircraft's movement in specific directions or its rotation in the air.
CycloRotors will significantly improve the maneuverability of the BlackBird demonstrator, allowing it to move or rotate in any direction in the air and make sharp trajectory changes with increased precision, CycloTech said. It could also improve passenger comfort and safety during flights in windy or other adverse weather, they added.
This technology sets the BlackBird apart from electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, such as those being tested by DARPA, and air taxi prototypes, all of which use more traditional propeller designs.
The BlackBird demo is still under development, but CycloTech has already released several promotional videos showing the use of CycloRotor technology to levitate and propel scale models.
The model can currently support up to 750 pounds (340 kg) and fly at about 73 mph (118 km/h). That's nearly half the speed of Cessna's Skyhawk, one of the most popular light private jets on the market, which can reach a top speed of 142 mph (229 km/h).
The team working on the BlackBird demonstrator plans to fly a full-size version of the plane in early 2025.
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Rory Bathgate is a freelance writer for Live Science and Features, and the Multimedia Editor at ITPro, overseeing all long-form content and feature research. Outside of his work at ITPro, Rory has a keen interest in how technology intersects with our fight against climate change. This includes a focus on the energy transition, particularly in renewable energy generation and grid storage, as well as advances in electric vehicles and the rapid growth of the electrification market. In his spare time, Rory enjoys photography, video editing and science fiction. He joined ITPro in 2022 as a graduate, having completed an MA (Hons) in Eighteenth Century Studies at King’s College London. You can contact Rory at [email protected].
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