Hydrogen-powered, box-winged eVTOL makes first untethered flight
We've been following the development of Australia's AMSL Aero's longe-range, hydrogen-powered Vertiia eVTOL for some time and now the box-winged tilt-rotor aircraft has completed its first free flight after over a year of 50 tethered tests.
In recent years, multi-prop rotor craft have become increasingly common as all manner of companies have battled to gain a foothold in the emerging air taxi market. Despite this, the Vertiia still manages to stand out in the innovation stakes.
It's eight electric rotors are powered by a hydrogen fuel cell buffered through a battery system, which the company claims gives it a range of 620 miles (1,000 km) at a speed of 161 knots (186 mph, 300 km/h) and the ability to carry a pilot and four passengers at 30% of the cost of a conventional helicopter.
In addition, its box-wing configuration with its small wings behind the props that tilt in unison makes it surprisingly compact thanks to the carbon composite design. Not only is this a very strong build with plenty of lift, but it allows the rotors a very large degree of freedom to rotate while avoiding the "barndoor" drag that many tilt rotors suffer from before the airfoils can tilt back to allow for horizontal flight.
