This VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) craft will be three times faster and half as expensive as a similar-sized twin-engine executive helicopter. At least that is what its developer, US -based Transcend Air, believes. Transcend says its new disruptive design will also be faster than any fixed-wing turbo airplane of the same size.
SO WHO IS TRANSCEND AIR? A group of experienced aerospace execs, engineers, and entrepreneurs who have designed a tiltwing VTOL aircraft which they predict “will grow to dominate the VIP transport helicopter segment by being faster, cheaper and safer, and which will enable a new city-center to city-center airline.”
Naming companies such as Bell, Boeing, the FAA, Delta, Jet Blue, National Test Pilot School, and NASA on their resume, Transcend has received a lot of media coverage, especially as the concept of short-range, electric-powered air taxis and urban air mobility (UAM) networks move closer to reality. Companies including Uber Air and Joby have said they will be ready to run their air-taxi services by 2023.
Since 2009, Transcend have built and flown 15 prototype VTOL aircraft, and 14 of them have been electric. Find out more on their official website (click here).
