ZEVA  AERO

American company creates electric air taxi in the shape of a flying saucer

Zeva Aero has begun testing a full-scale prototype of a single-seater vertical take-off and landing taxi that looks like a flying saucer. The commercial version of the device will be able to fly up to 80 km at speeds of up to 260 km / h. You'll have to move lying face down, face down, which not everyone will like, but the feeling of flying will be unforgettable, the developers are sure.

The Zeva electric jet project grew out of Boeing's GoFly competition to design an aircraft that could fit into a sphere 2.6 meters in diameter. The engineers of the future company Zeva Aero limited themselves to the maximum wingspan and proposed a carbon fiber wing body in the shape of a disk. The device takes off and stays in the tail, and with the climb to a low altitude it goes into horizontal flight using the aerodynamics of the fuselage.

The electric jet is powered by four pairs of electric motors, each pair of which (two at the bottom of the body and two at the top) is placed coaxially. Upper propellers are optimized for vertical takeoff and landing, as well as hover, while lower propellers are designed for level flight. In horizontal flight, the upper blades are folded and retracted into containers in the nacelle so as not to create unnecessary drag. They are removed only to subsequently land or hover in place.

The Zeva Aero prototype charges 20 kWh batteries, while the commercial version will have 25 kWh batteries. The accumulators are located on the edges of the 2.4m wing hull. They are isolated by a series of cabin partitions with the products exiting a possible fire overboard. The passenger enters the vehicle from the rear through the hatch and exits the same way after landing the vehicle in the tail. A ballistic parachute will be provided for an emergency descent.

The cost of a vehicle will not exceed $250,000. First, it will focus on military and rescue services. It will be possible to steer the ship both in manual mode (the automatic equipment compensates for possible piloting errors) and in fully automatic mode. In addition, the electric plane is considered an option for moving expensive yacht owners to the coast and, in the future, as a parking option on the walls of skyscrapers next to offices and residential facilities.

The company is currently testing an eight times smaller copy of the Zeva Aero and a full-scale prototype with a terrestrial reference. In three to four weeks, it is planned to test the full-scale model in free flight with remote control. The company expects to begin testing a live pilot in three to six months, depending on when the license is obtained.

AVnews