The Coming Urban Air Mobility Air Travel Revolution
Trillions of dollars are being spent on urban air mobility projects by the likes of Toyota, Delta Airlines, United Airlines, American Airlines, Intel Corp, NASA, Airbus, and Boeing. Funny enough, this has not yet hit mainstream media. This revolution in air travel has emerged because of a convergence in technological breakthroughs:
- Computer chip processing power, battery technology, advances in electric motors, and others.
- Electric aircraft are significantly lighter than their petroleum powered brethren…no fuel tanks, no hydraulic systems, no associated plumbing, no pumps, and no thousands of pounds of liquidfuel…just to name a few weight saving items.
- The cost to operate an eVTOL vehicle is orders of magnitude cheaper than the equivalent liquid fuel powered aircraft.
- eVTOLs have an obviously green footprint.
Companies In The Space
The leading eVTOLs in development now are being built by Joby, Archer and Illium. Each of these companies expect to have an eVTOL vehicle in commercial operation by 2028. There are countless other smaller companies developing manned eVTOLs, especially in China. If we don’t start supporting this development within the US more openly and freely, the US will be left behind and in the dust! (From both China and India).
Design and Production
Designing an eVTOL (electric vertical and takeoZ) vehicle is relatively easy…it’s more of decision of what design to go with, versus, the design itself. Why is this? It is because the math of aeronautical design has become simplified, by orders of magnitude.
- Whereas in the past, flight controls, flight characteristics, weight and balance, lift and drag, and moments of inertia, all had to be modeled and tested, both in simulation and in flight.
- The advent of the all-encompassing Flight Controller chip accomplishes the functions of all the above and renders directional control of the aircraft as a matter of telling it where you want to go.
- Thirty years ago, these Flight Controller chips would have cost millions of dollars each…today they are less than $100 dollars. You find them in drones costings less than $20.
- And yes, they are not that different than the drones that all of mankind will one day be flying around in.
Impact
The derivatives coming from this revolution in UAM will match the introduction of the Ford Model-T.
- Infrastructure
- Battery Technology
- Electric Motor Advances
- Air Space Management
- Lobbying
- Marketing & Advertising
- Countless new services and jobs
Traffic and urban density are growing at an unsustainable rate around the world. Commutes that now take an hour and a half will become a ten-minute flight. This is revolutionary stuff that people will pay for. At Syntech.nyc, we are designing our own two-person eVTOL vehicle prototype, made of both aluminum and composite material. As this is a prototype, it won’t have all the bells and whistles and triple redundant safety systems on board, but it will be a flying testbed and technology demonstrator.
Only the lack of production time to devote to this project, and cash flow, slow the development of our prototype. We already are having keeping up with our drone consulting, which is why we are seeking partners and investors for this specific project. If sufficiently funded, we can be flying in less than 18 months and do a Round 1 fundraise.