Linz-based startup CycloTech tests aircraft with unusual propulsion system
The demonstrator for a flying car from the Linz-based company CycloTech has completed its maiden flight. Thanks to its special drive, it is very maneuverable.
First flight of the BlackBird
(Image: CycloTech)
The Austrian company CycloTech has launched its BlackBird aircraft for the first time. The special thing about the aircraft is its drive system.
The demonstrator is an eVTOL, an electrically powered multicopter that takes off and lands vertically (eVTOL stands for electric vertical take-off and landing). However, CycloTech has not equipped it with conventional rotors, but with six CycloRotors, which the company developed itself.
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Such a rotor consists of two disks with five blades suspended between them. This cylinder construction rotates around a central axis. The five blades, which each have the shape of an airplane wing, are mounted so that they can rotate. Depending on their angle of attack, the airflow is directed so that BlackBird rises, sinks, flies forwards and backwards or brakes and hovers in the air.
BlackBird can fly sideways
Four of the six CycloRotors are aligned transverse to the direction of flight and provide propulsion. The other two are aligned parallel to the longitudinal axis of the aircraft, which ensures great maneuverability. For example, the BlackBird can turn around its own vertical axis and move sideways.
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The BlackBird is the first demonstrator with six rotors from the Linz-based company. It weighs 340 kilograms and is unmanned. The first flight took place on March 27, as CycloTech has only just announced. According to the company, it took just eleven months to design and build the aircraft.
"The BlackBird is more than just a demonstrator – it is a flying test bed for the aviation of the future," said Chief Technology Officer Tahsin Kart. "The fact that it flies in such a short time is a testament to the innovation and spirit of our team."
CycloTech is planning two variants of its aircraft for the future: CruiseUp is to become a flying car that can fly up to 100 kilometers with two people. The CCY-01 version is intended as a transport drone. With a payload of 45 kilograms, it will have a range of 40 kilometers.
(wpl)