Napoleon.aero has designed a prototype of an air taxi which is a vertical takeoff and landing aircraft capable of transporting three passengers or cargos (maximum payload is 470 kilos) for distances of up to 640 kilometers. The prototype is now going through final tests. Compared to helicopters, the VTOL aircraft’s services will be twice cheaper with a flight hour priced between $70 and $80. The aircraft will be ready for large scale operations in about five years.
Napoleon.aero was registered by entrepreneur Mikhail Nurijanov, co-owner of Napoleon hostel in downtown Moscow. The aircraft was designed by engineers of Sukhoi Civil Aircraft, Sukhoi Design Bureau, MiG Design Bureau, Tactical Missiles Corporation joint stock company, Zhukovsky Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute. Nurijanov does not disclose the designers’ names, yet it’s known one of them is his relative. Nurijanov has been developing the project for some 2.5 years.
The future air taxi looks more like a small plane: it is seven meters long, has an 8.5 meters wingspan, and 1,600 kg weight. It can fly at a height of up to 3,000 meters and accommodate three passengers and a pilot. The maximum distance it can now cover is 640 kilometers, but in the future the range may expand. The aircraft’s wings and body are made of carbon fiber which is a heavy duty composite material. The body and load-bearing frame are manufactured locally, while electronics are supplied from China and propellers from the USA. The location of the prototype’s assembly is not disclosed. Mikhail Nurijanov is unwilling to make video recordings of test flights public either. Yet Invest Foresight’s reporter saw the aircraft in operation and can confirm it can fly, even though further improvements are certainly required.
To take off, the air taxi needs a heliport of 14 by 14 meters. Within five years, the aircraft will accomplish all tests required for certification, and will be ready for mass production and flights. Its certification alone may take up to two years. Unlike their competitors who use electric engines for their aircraft, designers at Napoleon.aero decided to use a hybrid engine. The aircraft uses gasoline or aviation kerosene. Some mechanical energy of the main engine is transferred directly to the propellers, while the rest is converted into electricity and consumed by electric engines and propellers. So for takeoff and landing, electricity is used, whereas for horizontal flight the main engine is employed.
It is not possible now to only use electric engine for flying. The matter is, energy output of the batteries for electric engines is 250 watt/kilo, whereas energy output of fuel is 12,000 watt/kilo.
The main challenge for Napoleon.aero – and for all its competitors – is the change from takeoff to horizontal flying, or from a helicopter mode to a jet mode. When modes change, there are two thrust vectors, one towards the ground and the other in parallel to it. The designers have a solution to prevent aircraft’s overturn, they want to cover the hoists with special appliances.
Napoleon.aero intends to link small towns to large cities. Flying within cities themselves is not allowed in Russia now. Air taxi will be in demand in remote areas, such as Yakutia and the Arctic.
So far, the costs of the aircraft development are covered by Mikhail Nurijanov. To launch the aircraft’s mass production, $30 mio is required. This autumn, the tests of the prototype in Moscow Region will be attended by venture investors, whose funding, as Nurijanov hopes, will help advance the project. Representatives of government agencies are also invited, but the specifics are not disclosed. It’s unrealistic to implement such a project without support from the authorities. Mikhail Nurijanov has approached officials in the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation, but he was told there is no point to discuss any government support until air taxi can fly faultlessly.
By Natalia Kuznetsova