Energy-efficient Electric Jump Take-Off

The last decade has witnessed large-scale funding from global capital markets into the quest to produce commercially viable, certifiable solutions for the emerging Advanced Air Mobility domain. At present none of these initiatives has produced any commercially viable concepts that are socially acceptable and able to attain certification status from aerospace regulatory bodies. Having become even more complex with the publication of the SC.VTOL certification standard by EASA in mid-2022\.

Project 3E-JTO seeks to bring a commercially and socially viable concept that will meet published certifiable standards. By focusing on electrically powering a full-span rotor of a gyrocopter or compound gyrocopter to achieve jump take-off (JTO), these aircraft can carry double the payload/range over multirotor aircraft at only a fraction of the power. JTO will allow the aircraft to take-off vertically but removes the ability to hover.

Project 3E-JTO will focus on the integration and testing of the electrical power system using batteries to power a full-span rotor, requiring a small battery pack, inverter and low rpm high torque electric motor. These will be off-the-shelf components used to test the system on a test rig.

The project will bring multiple benefits in cost, societal and environmental even when compared to other electric solutions. Such as 50% operating costs compared to conventional propulsion systems, a smaller carbon footprint due to lower power, a smaller battery, and larger aircraft to current VTOL solutions and improved connectivity due to the technology enabling a sensible aircraft solution.