Â
APV-1
Aliptera
Hamilton, Canada
www.aliptera.com
Aliptera was founded by Dusan Stan and Alexandru Stan in Canada. Their goal is to create both cargo and small personal electric vertical and takeoff and landing (eVTOL) and hybrid-electric VTOL aircraft for Urban Air Mobility (UAM). As of January 2020, they have designed a cargo VTOL aircraft, one passenger VTOL aircraft and a two passenger VTOL aircraft. Little is stated on their website about the specifications of each aircraft but several sub-scale prototypes have been made and flight tested.
According the the inventor, lip wing technology is a wing which is connected to a movable ducted fan during VTOL flight, allowing the aircraft to lift at zero speed. As the aircraft transitions from VTOL to forward flight, the wing retracts from the ducted fan and the ducted fan moves from a horizontal position to a vertical position. Lip wing technology allows the aircraft to be efficient in both VTOL mode and forward flight, creating novel aircraft which is suited for Urban Air Mobility.
The Inventors Affirm:
Planes
- Advantages: Most efficient air transportation vehicle to date.
- Disadvantages: Can stall. Stall is a reduction of lift and if not corrected, the airplane can crash. Cannot fly slow. Runways are costly and planes are restricted to take off and landing only on runways.
Helicopters
- Advantages: Most efficient for a hovering aircraft to date
- Disadvantages: Are slow, retreating blade stall limits speed, inefficient air transportation
Tiltrotors
- Advantages: Hovers and is faster than helicopters
- Disadvantages: It’s a compromise between a plane and a helicopter. Less efficient in hover vs. helicopter because of higher disk loading. Less efficient and slower in horizontal flight versus fixed wing aircraft because the bigger propeller creates more drag
Shrouded Propeller or Ducted Fan
- Advantages: More efficient at slow speeds, eliminates tip losses and creates more thrust
- Disadvantages: Can be designed to be efficient at low and high speeds but you can only have it efficient for slow or high speeds, not both
Channel Wing
- Advantages: More thrust and an open propeller
- Disadvantages: No control and not efficient at small speeds, adds vibrations to aircraft, increases weight of aircraft, thrust increase not that significant
Lip Wing
- Advantages: Takes the best of all technologies and is the most efficient design for VTOL aircraft because it creates more lift at low speeds and is able to fly at higher forward speeds without decreasing drag. It provides 65% more lift than an open propeller and 20% more lift than a shrouded propeller.
The Aliptera APV-1 (or Aliptera Person VTOL – 1) is a two passenger eVTOL or hybrid-electric aircraft and has been designed to allow people to travel freely in their every day lives and not be delayed by road traffic.
The design of the aircraft includes a canard wing with a horizontally placed ducted propeller inset, in the front of the fuselage, for VTOL flight and while in forward flight, a shutter type device will close over the front propeller allowing for better wind flow when the forward propeller turns off. There is a rear main lip wing moves into different positions whether the aircraft is in VTOL or forward flight. The rear ducted propeller also moves with the lip wing depending upon whether the aircraft is in VTOL or forward flight. The company’s goal is to make this an air, ground and amphibious vehicle.
Aliptera is also developing the ADR-1 Dragon Rider, another craft undergoing sub-scale flight testing.
Specifications:
- Aircraft type: eVTOL and hybrid-electric VTOL
- Passengers: 2
- Maximum speed: (242 mph (210 kts, 389 km/h)
- Range: 480 miles (772 km)
- Maximum payload: 1,400 lb (635 kg)
- Canopy: Has a clear canopy allowing the pilot and passenger to see in all directions for spectacular views when flying
- Propellers: 1 front horizontal propeller mounted in the fuselage for VTOL flight with shutters which close during forward flight. 1 ducted movable propeller in the rear of the aircraft which tilts horizontally for VTOL flight and then tilts vertically for forward flight.
- Wing: Small canard wing with rear high main wing. The rear wing protrudes from the back of the fuselage with an angled-type wing, with the final horizontal wing above the fuselage.
- Fuselage: Composite
- Landing gear: Either skids or wheeled landing gear
Resources:
