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Uber Advances Plans For Urban Aerial Ridesharing With New Partners

 

Jun 11, 2019 Graham Warwick | The Weekly Of Business Aviation

 

 

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jaunt01.jpg

 

Jaunt: Uber

 

Uber has added a fifth electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) vehicle developer to its Elevate aerial ridesharing program, announcing a partnership to develop Jaunt Air Mobility’s Reduced Rotor Operating Speed Aircraft (ROSA).

 

Jaunt joins existing vehicle partners Bell, Boeing subsidiary Aurora Flight Sciences, Karem Aircraft and Pipistrel. The startup acquired the rights to Carter Aviation Technologies’ slowed-rotor compound (SR/C) concept. Carter was part of a team led by Mooney that was selected by Uber in 2017 as one of its original Elevate vehicle partners, but was later dropped.

 

The ROSA is based on the SR/C concept, which is essentially the combination of an autogyro and a compound helicopter. The rotor is spun up for vertical takeoff and landing, but is unpowered in forward flight, when lift is provided by a wing and propulsion by a pusher propeller. The rotor is slowed in flight to reduce drag while the wing increases efficiency. The lower tip speed reduces noise compared with a helicopter.

 

Jaunt has signed a memorandum of understanding with Honeywell to define avionics, navigation, flight control, electric propulsion and connectivity systems for the ROSA. As part of the agreement, they will work together to develop the technical requirements, statement of work and definitive agreement to support Jaunt’s eVTOL demonstration by the fall of 2021.

 

Jaunt was named as a vehicle partner at the opening of the third Uber Elevate Summit, held in Washington on June 11-12. Also at the Summit, Slovenia’s Pipistrel revealed the configuration of its eVTOL aircraft, a five-seater with low-pressure electric fans housed in canoes shoulder-mounted either side of the cabin and a pusher propeller on top of the tail for propulsion. Uber says the fans draw 50% less power in hover than traditional rotors.

 

EmbraerX unveiled the latest version of its eVTOL, which now has two rear-mounted ducted props for propulsion and eight rotors for lift. The rotors are mounted in fore-aft pairs on booms attached to the tips of a forward canard and rear wing. The rotors stop and align with the airflow to reduce drag in forward flight. Bell displayed the full-scale mockup of its Nexus tilting ducted-fan eVTOL.

 

Karem presented a refined design for its Butterfly Optimum Speed Tilt Rotor eVTOL, which has four proprotors mounted on the tips of the high wing and V tail. Boeing displayed a model of its two-seat Passenger Air Vehicle (PAV), which made its first hover flight at Aurora in January. The PAV has six lift rotors mounted on two rails below the fuselage, a wing and a pusher propeller for propulsion.

 

Uber itself unveiled a full-scale mockup of its first air-taxi cabin design, developed with Safran Cabin’s ZEO Studio. The cabin, which seats four passengers in two rows, plus a pilot, is intended to act as common reference model for eVTOL vehicle developers.

 

“We had six full-scale mockups, with multiple iterations in each one, looking at the seats, liners and window positioning,” says Scott Savian, executive vice president of ZEO. Requirements include minimum weight and cost, but also safety and comfort. “So while the cabin may be minimal in some ways, it’s absolutely purpose built to the mission,” he says.

 

In other agreements announced at the Summit, Uber Elevate is to collaborate with AT&T to explore how 4G LTE and 5G connectivity can be used with eVTOL air taxis and cargo drones. And Elevate has selected real-estate developer Related Companies as its preferred partner for developing Skyports to support the rollout of its Uber Air network in the U.S.

 

Existing Uber Elevate property-development partner Hillwood, meanwhile, has announced plans to establish the AllianceTexas Mobility Innovation Zone at Fort Worth Alliance Airport in Texas. The zone will be used to help develop standards for urban drones and air taxis. Alliance is close to Dallas, one of the launch cities where Uber Elevate plans to begin demonstrations in 2020 and commercial service in 2023.

 

 

Posted

Uber: urban air mobility! JFK in 30 minutes!

 

NYC Helicopters: It's hard

 

Uber: yeah but you are already doing it, so is Blade

 

NYC Helicopters: And?

 

Uber: $$$$$, do it for us (this forum user adds do it exclusively for us and not for yourself anymore, we will subsidise you in exchange for intellectual property and access to your client list)

 

NYC Helicopters: *sigh*

 

 

Posted
Uber know they can't get into a market without doing their due diligence

They don’t care. Their whole model is do whatever and then muscle in and force legislative change to suit them. Pirate taxis had been around since the beginning of the industry over 100 years ago. Then all of a sudden it became legal because of an app.

 

I reckon if they have any future clout (which I’m pretty sure they won’t because they will either disappear altogether or be bought out cents on the dollar by a proper company) they would try and force legislative change to FAA. The idea is laughable but that is the Uber mindset

 

 

  • Like 1
Posted

QANTAS Virgin Australia Emirates and Etihad combined did not get the curfew lifted at Kingsford Smith Airport and with the list of exempted aircraft actually being noisier than the current crop of international airliners such as the 787 and A350 AND the act has survived with no amendments since 2006. I don't think logic or rules being applied to anyone or anything in any way, let alone consistently, will be a part of future urban air mobility.

 

"A courageous decision, minister" said Sir Humphrey

 

I agree with Danny's comment about the Uber mindset

 

 

Posted

To be "with it" these days you can't have noise curfews with International Flight connections. Badgery's creek won't be any different and there you can't rundown off the coast so effectively. Sydney should have been relocated to a more remote area with high speed rail to built up areas.. Maybe air travel is near to peak. Designs may have pushed the economics above safety a bit too far.. Flying across the world for a couple of days in some place doesn't make a lot of sense in the long run. 3 Hours in Venice is not "doing Venice". You can say you have been there but the "done that" part is not valid.. Nev

 

 

Posted

Uber tend to break the law when they have too. Pay off a few politicians and senior PS to delay any prosecution long enough to get their business up and running

 

 

Posted

Here is another slant on things

 

"Our urban in mobility solution will mean Geelong train station to Avalon airport car park in 30 minutes, by 2025" .... Oh. Wait a minute! 035_doh.gif.20945f41f6940e42c02c6776496d81c2.gif

 

 

Posted

Why would you even think of hybrid for this application? Low power Petrol engine plus batteries plus splitter transmission plus electrical motor plus control system. Looks like someone is out of their depth.

 

 

Posted

This concept is a long way off, the publicity seeks to find investors, and technology startups to pour in some free dev work in the hope of getting onboard. A few prototypes will probably crash and that will slow acceptance. And then there is the regulatory minefield :-(

 

Cheers,

 

Jack.

 

 

Posted

Is it just the angle of photography, or do those wings look awfully skinny, to provide any lift over about 120kts?? The thing looks like it's designed for Mach 1 speeds.

 

"The computer will take care of your yaw correction". Yeah, right, just like MCAS did for pitch-up on the 737 MAX. 038_sweat.gif.0c111d92b3c69d7166f94b00a5b6bc0d.gif

 

 

Posted

"A paradigm shift in the way we do the maths" says the salesman.

 

Compared to the king air B200 both are 10 seat aircraft with similar speed. Alice has a 1500lb higher MTOW yet it's empty weight excluding battery is only about 1700kg v the B200 at almost 4000kg, how?.

 

Alice can fly the same speed as the B200 using only about 25% of the power required for the B200 despite being heavier, how?

 

The maths are mine based on current battery tech.

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...
Posted
That's the "wink wink, nudge nudge" sentence that let's those in the know, know it'll never happen....024_cool.gif.e4faea8b8d6d5d6e548e269d4b8acbd2.gif

 

the system is already underway at Dubai in conjunction with Mercedes Benz 

 

 

  • 2 months later...
Posted
Why would you even think of hybrid for this application? Low power Petrol engine plus batteries plus splitter transmission plus electrical motor plus control system. Looks like someone is out of their depth.

 

and yet there's 3 million Toyota Prius driving around with no problems ...

 

Post deleted as statement was factually incorrect

 

 

 

Doesn't matter, it's the internet.

 

 

  • Haha 1
Posted
and yet there's 3 million Toyota Prius driving around with no problems

 

Number of wings on prius/prii/pruises = zero. Interestingly someone is fluffing about with a hybrid cessna skymaster. The results of that will be informative

 

 

Posted
Number of wings on prius/prii/pruises = zero.

 

 

 

The reference was towards the drivetrain system layout having been around for a long time now and well proven.

 

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