Duct-Winged Inertial Bicopter: Theory, Design and Testing

Abstract

This paper describes and reports on the status of an electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft type being developed at Athena Aero Corp that began life as a concept entry in the Boeing-sponsored GoFly Challenge initiated in Sept. 2017. Known as a duct-winged inertial bicopter, the concept was intended to satisfy the Challenge’s basic requirements of giving the pilot an unobstructed forward view within a 90-degree cone and of being able to: 1.take off and land (essentially) vertically, 2.transport a 200 lb. person six times around two pylons a half-mile apart at a speed of at least 30kts, and 3.stay aloft for 20 minutes with a 10-minute fuel/energy reserve, all in a single flight. Additionally, the aircraft could be no larger than 8.5 ft. in any direction and had to be quieter than 85 dB at 50 ft. on take-off.