The Swiss company Manta Aircraft has prepared for flight tests a prototype of a light multi-propeller tiltrotor of the ANN series, reports New Atlas. Of the eight rotors, four mounted on the wing can be lowered in for flight in airplane mode.
In recent years, there are more and more projects of light multi-propeller passenger aircraft-often they rely on an electric or hybrid power plant and can accommodate up to five passengers. Often these devices are positioned as air taxis and are developed according to the scheme of a multicopter with fixed rotors (for example, Ehang and Volocopter ), but there are also projects dedicated to the development of passenger convertiplanes.
Manta Aircraft is developing a family of urban convertiplanes ANN, made according to the aerodynamic scheme "duck". The company plans to create a single-seat ANN1 and two-seat ANN2 vehicles, and in the future — the development of a tiltrotor that can take on board the pilot and four passengers.
Image Source: Manta Aircraft
The promising aircraft will be equipped with eight fanless electric motors, which are powered by batteries. For long flights, it is planned to install a hybrid power plant — on a full tank, according to the developers, the device will be able to cover a distance of 600 kilometers at a cruising speed of up to 300 kilometers per hour.
Recently, the company's specialists completed the construction of a 1:3 scale ANN2 flight prototype and will soon test it in the air. The three-meter model will be tested both in hover mode and by switching to horizontal flight.
In addition to the Manta Aircaraft, Bell Helicopter has its own project for the urban convertiplane Nexus [...], but its concept is still being finalized . In addition, the tiltrotor is being developed by the German company Lilium, but their first prototype burned down during maintenance.
Nikolai Vorontsov