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The latest prototype of the future air taxi of the future has taken off: the new prototype of Lilium vertical takeoff and landing made its first flight on May 4, revealed the startup based in Munich today. Although Lilium claims that the brilliant five-seater electric can travel 300 km in one hour, his first flight, like most of these tests, was modest. Operated by remote control, he took off, hovered a few meters above the ground and landed. The first modest exit common to any new type of aircraft. This followed months of extensive field testing.
Lilium has been silent since it sowed a two-seater prototype two years ago, but it has one of the most interesting – and controversial – technological approaches in this burgeoning field. The "Lilium Jet" uses 36 electrically operated sheath fans. Inside each, a small rotor draws air from the front and pushes it out back at higher speeds. They are not technically jet engines (the plane is not a "jet"). The absence of rotating blades improves efficiency, reduces noise and eliminates the risk of turning passing birds into chops.
Although the flight test and certification work remains, Lilium aims to set up an on-demand air taxi service in just a few years.
Lilium
The engines are arranged in two rows of six on each side of the nose – integrated into a front set called duck – and two rows of 12 in the rear wing. The aircraft tilted the fans vertically for takeoff, then tilted them 90 degrees for horizontal flight, aerodynamic wing and fuselage providing the essential lift at cruising speed. In this configuration, the aircraft would only need about 10% of the maximum thrust of the engines to keep the flight forward, said a Lilium spokeswoman. Panoramic windows and winged gull doors allow for a flying experience that looks a lot like commercial aviation.
The Lilium removes the type of tool used by conventional aircraft to control their movements, including the vertical stabilizer, fins or lifts. Instead, it relies on a flight control computer that will steer the engines in different directions. Front engines manage pitch from top to bottom. Those on the wing handle roll movements. The aircraft rotates on its hovering axis by varying the speed of the rotors, as does the quadrocopter drones for the general public.
While flight test and certification work remains a daunting task, Lilium co-founder and CEO Daniel Wiegand wants to create an on-demand air taxi service in just a few years, with a network of landing in a few cities. and a larger operational service by 2025. For starters, humans will be pilots, but the company intends to abandon them as soon as possible. Lilium says its standalone technology is almost ready and it just waits for the regulators to get into the robo. It's hard to predict this and it will vary by region, but analysts believe Lilium should have three to five years to make sure the technology is as ready as she says.
The Lilium removes the type of tool used by conventional aircraft to control their movements, including the vertical stabilizer, fins or lifts. Instead, it relies on a flight control computer that will steer the engines in different directions.
Lilium
Regarding the new aircraft itself, Lilium abandoned the standard engines that fitted his old prototype for those he designed. It is made from aerospace-grade materials, as opposed to a variety of hand-made parts, typically crafted from prototyping techniques. Wiegand says moving two seats in the five-prototype will help the nascent system achieve economies and economies of scale by providing transportation to more passengers with each flight. The technical specifications of the company are thin, but the battery is about the size of an electric car.
"In less than two years, we have been able to design, build, and successfully fly an aircraft that will serve as a model for mass production," says Wiegand.
Skeptics, however, argued that Lilium's decision to combine propulsion and control in one mechanism compromises the ability of either to function effectively. "We do not think this is the case," said a company spokesperson in an email, saying having 36 independently controlled engines provides more precise control and improved redundancy. The aircraft also uses a triple redundant flight control computer and 12 independent flaps. Its shape allows to slide in case of complete power failure and it is equipped with a ballistic parachute just in case.
But among the many challenges facing the more than 200 companies looking for air mobility, noise could be as big a stumbling block as economic or security imperatives. Vertical transport aircraft have to move a lot to be able to maneuver at low speed and hover, which means that you have to create a serious problem, especially if you have a lot in an urban area. Lilium says its sheathed fans absorb and cushion not only the general noise of the aircraft, but that they also minimize the sharp whine caused by the use of smaller blades. Overall, according to the company, the design will allow the aircraft to "blend into the background of a typical urban scene."
Now that the first flight has become a memory, Lilium will perform increasingly complex maneuvers, including the transition between vertical and horizontal flight, between cities, in bad weather and with varying degrees of automation. If all goes well, passengers will experience the flights tested well before the 2025 target for a fully operational service.
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