Quirky Electric Plane Is Propelled By Fans In Wings For 80% Less Emissions
Image via Ascendance Flight Technologies
Sustainable solutions to air travel are being explored by the aviation industry, and these range from things like cleaner fuel to fully electric planes.
French company Ascendance Flight Technologies is no stranger to this game, but its contribution to aircraft, the ATEA, stands out from the others thanks to its unique design: There are rotors incorporated straight onto the wings.
The hybrid-electric vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft is designed with two propulsion systems, one of which is the eight fans-in-wings. According to Interesting Engineering, these propellers are vital to the VTOL capabilities while managing to get the aircraft to generate four times less noise than the traditional aircraft.
Image via Ascendance Flight Technologies
The other propulsion system comes in the form of propellers on the plane’s nose and tail. Together, these have been dubbed the ‘Lift+Cruise’ system by the company. As detailed by the design team, the 400-kilometer (248.5-mile) range and a turnaround time of just 10 minutes are thanks to the unique propulsion system.
A mixture of kerosene and batteries boast “optimized fuel consumption,” and this will allow the plane to fly at 80% reduced carbon emissions as compared to a traditional helicopter. Although that’s already a pretty impressive number, Ascendance is saying that this is “only the first step” in its journey to a cleaner aviation future.
Image via Ascendance Flight Technologies
The ATEA “is the result of huge efforts by our R&D department, tests and trials on 4 prototypes and a great deal of thought on costs and the ease of flying such an aircraft,” shares co-founder and CEO Christophe Lambert. “Its characteristics provide all the performances expected by a sector that the ongoing transition has made more demanding.”
This five-seater VTOL would be most suited to serving as an air taxi and other urban mobility-related endeavors rather than long-haul flights. However, its range will allow it to travel further than our conventional land-based taxis, and it will certainly be faster.
Futuristic designs such as these may seem like they’d be years away, but Ascendance is on track for a near release. ATEA will be brought to life as a full-scale prototype, complete with test flights, by 2023.
Certification and production are expected just a couple years later, in 2025.
[via Interesting Engineering, images via Ascendance Flight Technologies]
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