{"id":6975,"date":"2014-03-19T02:46:51","date_gmt":"2014-03-19T02:46:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=6975"},"modified":"2014-03-19T06:05:15","modified_gmt":"2014-03-19T06:05:15","slug":"sci-tech-darpa-selects-4-designs-for-vertical-takeoff-landing-x-planes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=6975","title":{"rendered":"Sci-Tech: DARPA selects 4 designs for Vertical Takeoff &#038; Landing X-Planes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>DARPA has announced the winners of the first round of its\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.darpa.mil\/Our_Work\/TTO\/Programs\/Vertical_Takeoff_and_Landing_Experimental_Plane_%28VTOL_X-Plane%29.aspx\" target=\"_d\">Vertical Takeoff and Landing Experimental Plane (VTOL X-Plane)<\/a>\u00a0project:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.darpa.mil\/NewsEvents\/Releases\/2014\/03\/18.aspx\" target=\"_d\">VTOL X-Plane Program Takes Off<br \/>\n<\/a><\/strong><i>DARPA tasks four companies with designing new aircraft to<br \/>\nr<\/i><i>evolutionize vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) flight capabilities \u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n<p>For generations, new designs for vertical takeoff and landing aircraft have remained unable to increase top speed without sacrificing range, efficiency or the ability to do useful work. DARPA\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.darpa.mil\/Our_Work\/TTO\/Programs\/Vertical_Takeoff_and_Landing_Experimental_Plane_%28VTOL_X-Plane%29.aspx\">VTOL Experimental Plane (VTOL X-Plane)<\/a>\u00a0program seeks to overcome these challenges through innovative cross-pollination between the fixed-wing and rotary-wing worlds, to enable radical improvements in vertical and cruise flight capabilities. In an important step toward that goal, DARPA has awarded prime contracts for Phase 1 of VTOL X-Plane to four companies:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Aurora Flight Sciences Corporation<\/li>\n<li>The Boeing Company<\/li>\n<li>Karem Aircraft, Inc.<\/li>\n<li>Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u201cWe were looking for different approaches to solve this extremely challenging problem, and we got them,\u201d said\u00a0<a title=\"Ashish Bagai\" href=\"http:\/\/www.darpa.mil\/Our_Work\/TTO\/Personnel\/Dr_Ashish_Bagai.aspx\">Ashish Bagai<\/a>, DARPA program manager. \u201cThe proposals we\u2019ve chosen aim to create new technologies and incorporate existing ones that VTOL designs so far have not succeeded in developing. We\u2019re eager to see if the performers can integrate their ideas into designs that could potentially achieve the performance goals we\u2019ve set.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>VTOL X-Plane seeks to develop a technology demonstrator that could:<\/p>\n<ul type=\"disc\">\n<li>Achieve a top sustained flight speed of 300 kt-400 kt<\/li>\n<li>Raise aircraft hover efficiency from 60 percent to at least 75 percent<\/li>\n<li>Present a more favorable cruise lift-to-drag ratio of at least 10, up from 5-6<\/li>\n<li>Carry a useful load of at least 40 percent of the vehicle\u2019s projected gross weight of 10,000-12,000 pounds<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>All four winning companies proposed designs for unmanned vehicles, but the technologies that VTOL X-Plane intends to develop could apply equally well to manned aircraft. Another common element among the designs is that they all incorporate multipurpose technologies to varying degrees. Multipurpose technologies decrease the number of systems in a vehicle and its overall mechanical complexity. Multipurpose technologies also use space and weight more efficiently to improve performance and enable new and improved capabilities.<\/p>\n<p>The next major milestone for VTOL X-Plane is scheduled for late 2015, when the four performers are required to submit preliminary designs. At that point, DARPA plans to review the designs to decide which to build as a technology demonstrator, with the goal of performing flight tests in the 2017-18 timeframe.<\/p>\n<p>===<\/p>\n<p>Here are images of the winning designs (none available for the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.aurora.aero\/\" target=\"_d\">Aurora Flight Sciences<\/a>\u00a0design):<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.darpa.mil\/uploadedImages\/Content\/NewsEvents\/Releases\/2014\/Boeing%20VTOL%20X-Plane%20Concept_b.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"6980\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?attachment_id=6980\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Boeing-VTOL-X-Plane-Concept_b_500x250.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"500,250\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Boeing VTOL X-Plane Concept_b_500x250\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Boeing-VTOL-X-Plane-Concept_b_500x250.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-6980\" alt=\"Boeing VTOL X-Plane Concept_b_500x250\" src=\"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Boeing-VTOL-X-Plane-Concept_b_500x250.jpg\" width=\"500\" height=\"250\" srcset=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Boeing-VTOL-X-Plane-Concept_b_500x250.jpg 500w, https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Boeing-VTOL-X-Plane-Concept_b_500x250-300x150.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a>Boeing VTOL \u00a0X Plane Concetp (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.darpa.mil\/uploadedImages\/Content\/NewsEvents\/Releases\/2014\/Boeing%20VTOL%20X-Plane%20Concept_b.jpg\" target=\"_blank\">Hi-res image<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.darpa.mil\/uploadedImages\/Content\/NewsEvents\/Releases\/2014\/Karem%20VTOL%20X-Plane%20Concept_b.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"6981\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?attachment_id=6981\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Karem-VTOL-X-Plane-Concept_b_500x284.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"500,284\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Karem VTOL X-Plane Concept_b_500x284\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Karem-VTOL-X-Plane-Concept_b_500x284.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-6981\" alt=\"Karem VTOL X-Plane Concept_b_500x284\" src=\"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Karem-VTOL-X-Plane-Concept_b_500x284.jpg\" width=\"500\" height=\"284\" srcset=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Karem-VTOL-X-Plane-Concept_b_500x284.jpg 500w, https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Karem-VTOL-X-Plane-Concept_b_500x284-300x170.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a>Karem VTOL X-Plane Concept (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.darpa.mil\/uploadedImages\/Content\/NewsEvents\/Releases\/2014\/Karem%20VTOL%20X-Plane%20Concept_b.jpg\" target=\"_blank\">Hi-res image<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a style=\"line-height: 1.5em;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.darpa.mil\/uploadedImages\/Content\/NewsEvents\/Releases\/2014\/Sikorsky%20VTOL%20X-Plane%20Concept_b.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"6982\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?attachment_id=6982\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Sikorsky-VTOL-X-Plane-Concept_b_500x355.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"500,355\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Sikorsky VTOL X-Plane Concept_b_500x355\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Sikorsky-VTOL-X-Plane-Concept_b_500x355.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-6982\" alt=\"Sikorsky VTOL X-Plane Concept_b_500x355\" src=\"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Sikorsky-VTOL-X-Plane-Concept_b_500x355.jpg\" width=\"500\" height=\"355\" srcset=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Sikorsky-VTOL-X-Plane-Concept_b_500x355.jpg 500w, https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Sikorsky-VTOL-X-Plane-Concept_b_500x355-300x213.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a>Sikorsky VTOL X-Plane Concept (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.darpa.mil\/uploadedImages\/Content\/NewsEvents\/Releases\/2014\/Sikorsky%20VTOL%20X-Plane%20Concept_b.jpg\" target=\"_blank\">Hi-res image<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">**************************<br \/>\n<b><br \/>\n<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/goldbox\/ref=as_acph_cc_gold_128_on?ie=UTF8&#038;camp=1789&#038;creative=9325&#038;linkCode=ur2&#038;tag=hobbyspace\">Shop Amazon Gold Box &#8211; New Deals. Everyday<\/a><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=hobbyspace&#038;l=ur2&#038;o=1\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" border=\"0\" alt=\"\" style=\"border:none !important; margin:0px !important;\" \/><br \/>\n<\/b><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>DARPA has announced the winners of the first round of its\u00a0Vertical Takeoff and Landing Experimental Plane (VTOL X-Plane)\u00a0project: VTOL X-Plane Program Takes Off DARPA tasks four companies with designing new aircraft to revolutionize vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) flight capabilities \u00a0 For generations, new designs for vertical takeoff and landing aircraft have remained unable to &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=6975\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Sci-Tech: DARPA selects 4 designs for Vertical Takeoff &#038; Landing X-Planes<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-science-and-technology"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p34aWK-1Ov","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":854,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=854","url_meta":{"origin":6975,"position":0},"title":"Sci-Tech: DARPA seeking next-gen VTOL vehicles","author":"TopSpacer","date":"February 25, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"DARPA wants better vertical-takeoff, vertical-landing vehicles, particularly in these \"four areas: speed, hover efficiency, cruise efficiency and useful load capacity\". DARPA Experimental Aircraft Program to Develop the Next Generation of Vertical Flight Higher speeds, increased efficiency, elegant designs are the focus of new VTOL X-Plane One of the greatest challenges\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Science and Technology&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Science and Technology","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=9"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12284,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=12284","url_meta":{"origin":6975,"position":1},"title":"Sci-Tech: DARPA selects electric-rotor design for vertical take-off and landing X-Plane","author":"TopSpacer","date":"March 4, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Aurora Flight Sciences has beaten several much bigger companies for a DARPA contract to build\u00a0a vertical take off and landing demonstration vehicle that has much higher performance that helicopters or tiltrotor designs like the Osprey\u00a0now in operation:\u00a0DARPA Selects Aurora to Build VTOL X-Plane Technology Demonstrator Aurora's\u00a0LightningStrike has\u00a0an unusual design with\u00a024\u00a0electric\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Science and Technology&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Science and Technology","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=9"},"img":{"alt_text":"b0b7478e-e539-4c70-b657-172fa07b97b4[1]","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/b0b7478e-e539-4c70-b657-172fa07b97b41.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6444,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=6444","url_meta":{"origin":6975,"position":2},"title":"Sci-Tech: DARPA ARES to develop unmanned VTOL vehicles for front-line supply services","author":"TopSpacer","date":"February 12, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm still waiting for my vertical takeoff and landing car but meanwhile\u00a0DARPA\u00a0is aiming for medium-scale unmanned ducted fan VTOLs that can bring supplies and other services to places hard-to-reach by helicopters or other means: ARES Aims to Provide More Front-line Units with Mission-tailored VTOL Capabilities Unmanned aerial logistics system would\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Science and Technology&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Science and Technology","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=9"},"img":{"alt_text":"ARES Concepts v2","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/ARES-Concepts-v2.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5824,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=5824","url_meta":{"origin":6975,"position":3},"title":"Sci-Tech: UrbanAero&#8217;s fancraft AirMule making test flights","author":"TopSpacer","date":"December 25, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Urban Aeronautics\u00a0in Israel has begun untethered unmanned flight tests of their vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL)\u00a0prototype\u00a0AirMule vehicle: \"AirMule Achieves Major Milestone on the Path to Full Mission Demonstrations\" The AirMule, an unmanned VTOL (Vertical Takeoff and Landing) aircraft developed by Tactical Robotics Ltd., a subsidiary of Urban Aeronautics, Ltd., has\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Science and Technology&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Science and Technology","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=9"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.urbanaero.com\/userfiles\/images\/photo1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":286,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=286","url_meta":{"origin":6975,"position":4},"title":"Sci-Tech: Update on Paul Moller, Space Sciences, UrbanAero &#038; Aerofex","author":"TopSpacer","date":"January 29, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I've been checking in on\u00a0 Paul Moller and his SkyCar project occasionally since the late 1980s when I read an article in the Economist about his project.\u00a0 He has been working on flying cars since the 1960s and has made a few millions along the way with spinoff inventions such\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Science and Technology&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Science and Technology","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=9"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/7O6QxMdILRk\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5372,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=5372","url_meta":{"origin":6975,"position":5},"title":"SciTech: Zee.Aero developing personal VTOL","author":"TopSpacer","date":"November 21, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Zee.Aero\u00a0is a secretive Bay Area startup that is apparently designing a vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) vehicle with (perhaps0 some support from Google: This stealth company nestled against (inside?) Google is building flying cars - The Technology Chronicles Personal VTOL - The Unwanted Blog Patent apps \u00a0","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Science and Technology&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Science and Technology","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=9"},"img":{"alt_text":"US20130214086A1-20130822-D00000","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/up-ship.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/US20130214086A1-20130822-D00000-1024x707.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6975"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6975\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6991,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6975\/revisions\/6991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}