Recently, we posted about the incredible STOL capabilities of the GA-ASI’s MOJAVE UAV, which can takeoff and land in merely 300 feet. Another aircraft might give MOJAVE a run for its money, as it offers similar capability for a passenger aircraft with hybrid propulsion.
Electra-Aero’s hybrid ultra-short take-off and landing (eSTOL) aircraft is claimed to require a 300-foot runway for its operations, yet it can carry nine passengers with a 2500-pound payload. Full-scale aircraft shall be able to carry nine passengers with their baggage (50 lb each) and two pilots over a distance of 400 miles. The aircraft shall have a cruise speed of 175 KTS and the noise level of a vacuum cleaner.
The aircraft shall have eight wing-mounted propellers driven by electric motors, and blown lift shall be used for take-off and landing purposes. Blown lift is a concept where the high-energy slipstream of the propeller is blown all over the wing surface. In this way, the lift coefficient of a normal wing flap combination is significantly increased. Moreover, distributed propulsion gives extra redundancy, as explained by the CEO of Electra (link is attached below).
Aviation Week has reported that the company has developed a two-seat technology demonstrator that is expected to fly this year.
