Electric freighters on order

[Old Farang]

Electric freighters on orderElectric freighters on order | Flight Safety Australia (https://www.flightsafetyaustralia.com/2021/04/electric-freighters-on-order/)


International logistics company UPS will buy up to 150 piloted electric aircraft for short-range deliveries, with the first expected to fly in 2024.

UPS’s Flight Forward division this week announced it would take delivery of its first 10 eVTOL aircraft from US manufacturer Beta, with the option to purchase up to 150. The aircraft will have 4 electrically driven lift rotors, a tail-mounted propeller, cargo capacity of 635kg, range of 217 NM, cruise speed of 148 kts and zero operating emissions.

The aircraft achieves these performance figures by using 2 blade rotors only for take-off and landing; in cruise flight, the rotors are pointed front-rear for minimal drag and the wing generates lift. A prototype flew for 17 NM in March and reached 8000 ft.

[bob10]

Electric freighters on order

Electric freighters on order | Flight Safety Australia (https://www.flightsafetyaustralia.com/2021/04/electric-freighters-on-order/)


International logistics company UPS will buy up to 150 piloted electric aircraft for short-range deliveries, with the first expected to fly in 2024.

UPS’s Flight Forward division this week announced it would take delivery of its first 10 eVTOL aircraft from US manufacturer Beta, with the option to purchase up to 150. The aircraft will have 4 electrically driven lift rotors, a tail-mounted propeller, cargo capacity of 635kg, range of 217 NM, cruise speed of 148 kts and zero operating emissions.

The aircraft achieves these performance figures by using 2 blade rotors only for take-off and landing; in cruise flight, the rotors are pointed front-rear for minimal drag and the wing generates lift. A prototype flew for 17 NM in March and reached 8000 ft.




Amazing . The technology is here, even if we ignore it.

[goingbush]

This is either Fake news or more likely I would say UPS has been scammed, IMO this is NOT going to happen.

Prototype is fixed wing only with no VTOL, VTOL nacelles are mock-ups only.

[AK83]

This is either Fake news or more likely I would say UPS has been scammed, IMO this is NOT going to happen.

......

Wouldn't be the first time either.

Do the names General Motors ring any bells for folks?

Or how about Theranos!

[biggrin]

Scams of this magnitude seem to be dime a dozen on that continent.

[Hugh Jars]

It won't work. Well, not with 4 lift rotors on a vertical takeoff.

Just one engine failure, and you're toast. You need a minimum 6, maybe 8 to maintain controllability and lift should one fail.

[Old Farang]

It won't work. Well, not with 4 lift rotors on a vertical takeoff.

Just one engine failure, and you're toast. You need a minimum 6, maybe 8 to maintain controllability and lift should one fail.

Well, without any engineering information it is not possible to say just how the drive is arranged. It could very well be that all the rotors are connected via a gearbox, just like the tilt rotor V-22 Osprey. It is also not known if the rotor blades pitch can be individually controlled, or if just the speed.

I will not be ordering one any time soon, as I would be worried about the long extension power cord getting caught up in the rotors. [smilebigeye]

[goingbush]

Well, without any engineering information it is not possible to say just how the drive is arranged. It could very well be that all the rotors are connected via a gearbox, just like the tilt rotor V-22 Osprey. It is also not known if the rotor blades pitch can be individually controlled, or if just the speed.

I will not be ordering one any time soon, as I would be worried about the long extension power cord getting caught up in the rotors. [smilebigeye]

It wont work, end of story If they are all connected via gearboxes and shafts there will be no pitch yaw or roll control without constant speed /variable pitch propellors , either of those methods it will be too complex and too heavy . The only way to control it will be one motor per propellor , And I cant see that in those fake nacelles , Even if it gets off the ground it wont have any useful range or cargo capacity . Its going to need at least 600kg in batteries just to get off the ground , might leave room for a few air express satchels .

Also it will be noisy as hell , without Ducted fans those are going to need to be large diameter low pitch props, the tips will be in and out of the speed barrier & make a hell of a racket

[Old Farang]

Where does it say that pitch and roll control is part of the rotor system? It simply states that the rotor system is just used for initial lift, and that the blades play no part in forward flight.

Why would it be so difficult to have sufficient variable pitch on each rotor to maintain enough stability in the take off phase? A small stepper motor type driven mechanical connection would provide enough pitch control. No need for big rotating swash plates and linkages.

No idea about how much load it can carry, but it is not designed for cross country extended flight, more local delivery in cities.

[goingbush]

Where does it say that pitch and roll control is part of the rotor system? It simply states that the rotor system is just used for initial lift, and that the blades play no part in forward flight.

Why would it be so difficult to have sufficient variable pitch on each rotor to maintain enough stability in the take off phase? A small stepper motor type driven mechanical connection would provide enough pitch control. No need for big rotating swash plates and linkages.

No idea about how much load it can carry, but it is not designed for cross country extended flight, more local delivery in cities.

It doesn't have to say, Thats basic quadcopter 101 , Its IMPOSSIBLE to VTOL without 3 axis control as part of the rotor system , is done by varying the speed of the propellors rather than pitch, the forces at play are beyond small stepper motors on each propellor blade .

I was experimenting with VTOL before the current Drones craze , Off topic & different flight controls but I think I made the worlds first reliable RC vertical take off model plane (no one has disputed it) based on the Lockheed XFV and I had numerous failed experiments with fixed wing VTOL after that , Now with 3 axis gyro chips and GPS in all Drones it easy peasy so there is no challenge, but I was full manual control.

When I finished building the Power Wagon I'll get back into the hobby. but heres that one


https://youtu.be/nRQ6LW7VSD4

i made this rotodyne that was a miserable flop , cheap fun.

https://youtu.be/17i43MTx4o8

and this grumman vectored thrust concept also liked crashing

https://youtu.be/n-LRNw4wPKI

all of the above would be easy with the hobby electronics avaliable now. but still doesn't address the problem with the UPS thing, I'm not an expert but I think I know enough to know it wont do what they claimed it will, not unless they've invented antigravity.

[Old Farang]

It doesn't have to say, Thats basic quadcopter 101
That is YOUR understanding of 101!


It is IMPOSSIBLE to VTOL without 3 axis control as part of the rotor system , is done by varying the speed of the propellors rather than pitch,
Really? Have you not heard of "thrust vectoring?" I am pretty sure that VTOL aircraft do not vary the speed.


the forces at play are beyond small stepper motors on each propellor blade
Do you have a link to that, or is it just some more of your assumed superior knowledge?


I was experimenting with VTOL before the current Drones craze---all of the above would be easy with the hobby electronics avaliable now.
Does that not shoot down your theory? Surely the developers of this concept also have access to the latest electronics?


not unless they've invented antigravity.
Actually, ALL forms of lift is opposed to gravity.


I'm not an expert
Well at least that is correct!

I am not an "expert either". But I do hold a commercial helicopter licence and I was also licenced by CASA to do 50 hourly maintenance on my own machines. I am also a trained electrical fitter and spent a big part of my working life maintaining complex electrical systems. But what would I know?

[goingbush]

But what would I know?
I suppose will find out when UPS sues E-vtol, or whatever they call themselves, for not delivering.

[Hugh Jars]

Well, without any engineering information it is not possible to say just how the drive is arranged. It could very well be that all the rotors are connected via a gearbox, just like the tilt rotor V-22 Osprey. It is also not known if the rotor blades pitch can be individually controlled, or if just the speed.

I will not be ordering one any time soon, as I would be worried about the long extension power cord getting caught up in the rotors. [smilebigeye]

Ahh, I never thought about a common gearbox [smilebigeye]