onetrack Posted May 18 Posted May 18 Horizon Aircraft have successfully flown their revolutionary "Fan-in-Wing" eVTOL demonstrator for the first time. The Cavorite X7 consists of a radical canard-wing, forward-swept wing design, with electric fans mounted in the wings - which can operate as normal wings - but which wings also contain moving panels that can expose or shut off the electric fans in the wing. This unique setup is what gives the aircraft its VTOL capabilities. The propulsion is currently hybrid, with a gas turbine in the rear, which drives a normal propellor for forward thrust. The gas turbine also recharges the batteries that power the fans in the wings. It's an interesting and unique design, which does hold some promise of lower noise levels (especially on takeoff) and the ability to avoid stalls, and therefore serious crashes. Whether the concept is economic, is probably the $64 question. https://newatlas.com/aircraft/horizon-cavorite-x7-makes-history/ 2
Red Posted May 19 Posted May 19 There is a huge jump for these things to go from demonstrators able to attain flight to aircaft that can actually do a job of work. Performance claims invariably smell of BS as do the statements like changing the way we travel......nah these things will be little more than specialised drones and toys for the rich for a long time yet I wouldn't invest a penny on this stuff, I'm constantly baffled that the get so much cash thrown at them 1
pmccarthy Posted May 19 Posted May 19 For those who don't know, Cavorite is a fictional material first depicted by H. G. Wells in The First Men in the Moon, a 1901 scientific romance. Developed by Cavor, a reclusive physicist, it has the ability to negate the force of gravity, 1
onetrack Posted May 19 Author Posted May 19 So ... you're hinting that the Cavorite X7 might be a work of fiction, too? 😄
Underwood Posted May 19 Posted May 19 Small ducted fans are very inefficient and though only used for a small portion of the flight the aircraft has to carry the weight of them all the time even when they dont provide any lift or thrust, add to that the compromised wing structure that will incur a further weight penalty and the mechanism to retract and extend the wing section and its just more snake oil. 1
Thruster88 Posted May 19 Posted May 19 The Cavorite x7 is an interesting radio controlled model. Can it be scaled into a useful full sized aircraft? None of the amazing RC 3d fixed wing or helicopters types have full sized versions 1
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