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Hanneke Weitering

News and developments about airplanes, helicopters and unmanned air vehicles used in all varieties of operations, including airlines, military, business, commercial, general aviation and private.

Australian eVTOL start-up’s second full-scale prototype could fly this year

AMSL Prepares to Test Hydrogen-powered Vertiia eVTOL Aircraft

Charles Alcock

News and developments about aircraft engines, including turbofan, turboprop, turboshaft and piston.

Australian start-up is developing a hydrogen-powered aircraft

AMSL Starts Untethered Flight Tests with Vertiia eVTOL Aircraft

Australian air transport&nbsp;group Aviation Logistics has ordered 10 of AMSL Aero’s Vertiia hydrogen fuel cell-powered eVTOL aircraft with an option for 10 more, the companies announced on Sunday. The deposit-backed order represents the first for the Sydney-based manufacturer, which has been collaborating with local aeromedical group <a href="https://www.futureflight.aero/news-article/2023-03-01/aeromedical-group-careflight-backs-development-work-vertiia-evtol-aircraft">CareFlight</a> to develop rural and regional healthcare applications for eVTOL aircraft such as the Vertiia.
Aviation Logistics offers regional flights for passenger and cargo transport, as well as charter services and aeromedical flights, through subsidiaries such as Air Link, AirMed, and Chartair. The company says it plans to begin operating the Vertiia aircraft as early as 2027, pending type certification and other approvals. It has seven bases across Australia in Melbourne, Sydney, Dubbo, Brisbane, Alice Springs, Katherine, and Darwin, and also operates several aircraft maintenance facilities.
The single-pilot Vertiia aircraft is designed to carry up to four passengers or 500 kilograms (1,100 pounds) of cargo. Configured for aeromedical operations, it can fit one patient on a stretcher with three medical personnel. It has a projected range of about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) and a cruising speed of 300 kph (190 mph). A full-scale, battery-electric prototype of the Vertiia aircraft <a href="https://www.futureflight.aero/news-article/2023-02-21/amsls-vertiia-evtol-aircraft-prototype-achieves-its-first-hover-flights">began flight testing</a> in February 2023.&nbsp;
“Vertiia is a versatile aircraft with multiple use cases that match Aviation Logistics’ demands for safe, efficient, fast, and reliable aircraft for its cargo, aeromedical, and passenger operations,” said AMSL chief engineering officer Andrew Moore. “Our partnership will allow us to collaborate on testing and development as we look towards certification and production.”
So far AMSL said it has raised more than A$50 million ($32 million) from private investors and government programs, including a recent AU$5.43 million ($3.45 million) grant it received from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency for the development of its hydrogen fuel cell powertrain.&nbsp;
According to Sydney-based AMSL, it is the first domestic eVTOL aircraft developer to obtain an experimental airworthiness certificate from Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA), and the company aims to have the battery-electric Vertiia aircraft certified in 2026, followed by the hydrogen version in 2027. The battery-electric Vertiia will offer about one-quarter the range of the hydrogen version, about 250 kilometers (155 miles), on a single charge. AMSL is also contemplating future autonomous versions of the aircraft that would not require pilots on board.&nbsp;
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Science & Technology Editor

Australian Airline Group Signs Up For AMSL Vertiia eVTOL Aircraft

Emergency medical services group CareFlight is to assist AMSL Aero in preparing its Vertiia eVTOL aircraft to be used for carrying patients. The Australian companies announced their partnership during this week’s Avalon Air Show near Melbourne, where they exhibited a cabin mock-up equipped for aeromedical use. 
Last month, AMSL Aero achieved its first <a href="https://www.futureflight.aero/news-article/2023-02-21/amsls-vertiia-evtol-aircraft-prototype-achieves-its-first-hover-flights">tethered hover flight</a> with a prototype of the all-electric Vertiia vehicle. With a full payload, it is expected to have a range of up to around 250 kilometers&nbsp;(155 miles) on a single charge and be able to cruise at up to 300 km/h.
AMSL hopes to eventually develop a hydrogen-powered version of the <a href="https://www.futureflight.aero/aircraft-program/vertiia">Vertiia</a> that the company says could have four times the range of the all-electric version. It is also exploring a fully autonomous version of the aircraft that would not require a pilot on board.
CareFlight, a not-for-profit organization established in 1986, operates a fleet of fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, as well as road vehicles. Its medical teams treat and transfer patients from accident scenes and also carry them between hospitals.
Sydney-based <a href="https://www.futureflight.aero/news-article/2022-03-31/australias-greenbird-consortium-now-includes-local-evtol-aircraft-developer">AMSL Aero</a> aims to have the single-pilot Vertiia approved to start operations in 2026. The start-up also intends the Vertiia to be used for passenger flights, carrying up to four passengers, and cargo operations with a payload of 500 kilograms&nbsp;(1,100 pounds). 
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 <div class="field field--name-field-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">AMSL Aero co-founders Siobhan Lyndon (left) and Andrew Moore with a prototype of their Vertiia eVTOL aircraft. (Image: AMSL Aero)</div>
 
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<figcaption>AMSL Aero co-founders Siobhan Lyndon (left) and Andrew Moore with a prototype of their Vertiia eVTOL aircraft. (Image: AMSL Aero)</figcaption>
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In aeromedical use, the aircraft would carry a patient and up to three medical staff. CareFlight intends to use the eVTOL to support its regional and rural healthcare networks across Australia.
“[CareFlight] developed the rapid response helicopter service in Australia, so we are hugely grateful to them for their expertise,” commented AMSL Aero co-founder Siobhan Lyndon. “Vertiia is not only safe and quiet but it was also developed for the harsh long-distance conditions in Australia. If it can work in Australia, it can work anywhere.”
CareFlight is working with AMSL Aero’s engineering team to design a suitable aeromedical cabin interior before the design of the Vertiia is finalized. “We love the huge doors on the Vertiia,” said CareFlight CEO Mick Frewen. “The doorway is two meters wide, which is wider than on any aircraft we operate.”

Managing Editor

Aeromedical Group CareFlight Backs Development Work for Vertiia eVTOL Aircraft

An Australian-made eVTOL aircraft has taken flight for the first time. Sydney-based advanced air mobility start-up AMSL Aero announced on February 21&nbsp;that a prototype of its five-seat <a href="https://www.futureflight.aero/aircraft-program/vertiia">Vertiia eVTOL aircraft</a> has successfully completed its first hover flights.&nbsp;
Since the start of the&nbsp;Vertiia prototype's flight testing campaign, AMSL Aero&nbsp;has conducted 11 remotely piloted hover tests with it, a company spokesperson told FutureFlight. Those flights, during which the aircraft was tethered to the ground, reached altitudes of up to three meters (10 feet) and each lasted for about one minute, with one flight exceeding 90 seconds. All of the hover fight tests&nbsp;took place in the Central West region of New South Wales, just west of Sydney.
“The Vertiia prototype flew better than we expected," said Andrew Moore, AMSL’s CEO and the inventor of the Vertiia. "It was remarkably smooth and a delight to fly.”
This is the first time that an eVTOL aircraft designed and built in Australia has flown, according to AMSL. The company says the all-electric Vertiia will be the most energy-efficient and <a href="https://www.futureflight.aero/news-article/2022-11-03/vertiia-evtol-aircrafts-developers-seek-maximize-range-and-cost-efficient">longest-range eVTOL aircraft</a> in the world, with a range of about 250 kilometers&nbsp;(155 miles) on a single charge. However, other companies are targeting the same range limits, such as Lilium with its seven-seat fixed-wing eVTOL model.
It features a tilt-wing design with eight sets of motors and propellers installed on a seven-meter (23-foot) blown-wing structure. The blown-wing configuration provides the aircraft with the same aerodynamic efficiency as fixed-wing eVTOLs with a much larger wingspan while maintaining the compact size needed to operate in tight urban spaces. The Vertiia prototype now being tested is just slightly smaller than the planned production version, weighing in at 1,500 kilograms (3,300 pounds). The full-scale version is expected to weigh less than 2,000 kilograms&nbsp;(4,400 pounds).&nbsp;
AMSL hopes to eventually develop a hydrogen-powered version of the Vertiia that the company says could have four times the range of the all-electric version. The company is also exploring a fully autonomous version of the aircraft that would not require a pilot on board.&nbsp;
The full-scale Vertiia aircraft will seat four passengers plus one pilot or up to 500 kilograms&nbsp;(1,100 pounds) of cargo. A third cabin configuration for air ambulance operations would be able to accommodate a single patient plus three medical personnel. AMSL expects emergency medical services to be likely early adopters of the Vertiia, and the company has already signed a memorandum of understanding with Sydney-based CareFlight to develop aeromedical applications for rural and regional healthcare in Australia.&nbsp;
“Vertiia is not only safe and quiet but it was also developed for the harsh long-distance conditions in Australia,"&nbsp;said AMSL co-founder Siobhan Lyndon.&nbsp;"If it can work in Australia, it can work anywhere.&nbsp;
"Unlike aeromedical airplanes that require a runway," added Lyndon, "Vertiia will carry patients directly from any location straight to the hospital, significantly reducing the complexity and time often required to transport vulnerable patients. It will also be quieter and safer than helicopters and will eventually cost as little as a car to maintain and run, transforming aeromedical transport into a far more affordable, accessible, safer, and reliable option.”
<a href="https://www.vertiia.com/">AMSL</a> has been developing the Vertiia since 2018 and has been working closely with the Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority since the start. The company has already initiated the type certification process and has obtained an experimental airworthiness certificate for the Vertiia prototype. So far, AMSL Aero has raised over AU$40 million ($27.4 million) from private investors and government sources. The company plans for its aircraft&nbsp;to achieve type certification and enter service by 2026.

AMSL's Vertiia eVTOL Aircraft Prototype Achieves Its First Hover Flights

The continental scale and geographical characteristics that make Australia&nbsp;different from other countries aspiring to be hotbeds of new electric aircraft are prompting local start-ups like AMSL Aero to take a fresh approach to jump-start the advanced air mobility (AAM) sector. So, the initial all-electric version of its Vertiia eVTOL vehicle is expected, despite the limitations of battery technology, to deliver a range of up to 250 kilometers&nbsp;(156 miles), while a subsequent leap into hydrogen propulsion could quadruple this target to 1,000 kilometers.
­The Sydney-based company’s co-founders, Andrew Moore and Siobhan Lyndon, have been working on their <a href="https://www.futureflight.aero/aircraft-program/vertiia">Vertiia </a>design since 2017 and aspire to bring what they say will be the world’s most efficient eVTOL aircraft—in terms of energy use and unit economics—to market by 2026, and perhaps earlier for the battery-electric version. Their secret sauce is a seven-meter (23-foot) box wing configuration that they say will deliver aerodynamic efficiency equivalent to that of&nbsp;models with much larger wingspans, as well as the compact scale needed to operate in tight urban spaces.
<a href="https://www.futureflight.aero/news-article/2022-03-31/australias-greenbird-consortium-now-includes-local-evtol-aircraft-developer">AMSL</a> sees emergency medical support operations as a likely earlier adopter of the Vertiia, and it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Sydney-based CareFlight with this in mind. Air charter services are also a target market for the vehicle, whose cabin could accommodate six seats.
Having already flown a subscale technology demonstrator, the AMSL team is now assembling the first full-scale prototype that it hopes to start hover testing before the end of 2022, subject to the whims of the uncharacteristically wet weather being endured in southeastern Australia as the southern hemisphere spring gives way to summer. The flight test program will be used to collect data needed to finalize the design and to improve the flight control system,
Since 2018, the company has been engaging with Australia's&nbsp;<a href="https://www.futureflight.aero/news-brief/2022-07-04/australian-aviation-regulator-issues-advanced-air-mobility-roadmap">Civil Aviation Safety Authority</a> to plan type certification under Part 23 rules. Moore said the agency is closely aligned with the FAA's approach to approving new eVTOL aircraft.
So far, the program's expenses have been covered by&nbsp;several funding rounds, some government-backed grants, and a couple of research and development contracts from Australia’s defense department. AMSL has just completed a new funding round that raised A$23 million ($14.5 million).
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 <div class="field field--name-field-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">AMSL Aero's Vertiia eVTOL aircraft could operate on routes of up to 1,000 km once hydrogen propulsion is available. (Image: AMSL)</div>
 
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<figcaption>AMSL Aero's Vertiia eVTOL aircraft could operate on routes of up to 1,000 km once hydrogen propulsion is available. (Image: AMSL)</figcaption>
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Moore is an aeronautical engineer who started his career with the Royal Australian Navy, working on helicopters as part of peacekeeping missions with poor transport infrastructure and later in projects such as modifying air ambulance aircraft with companies including Raytheon. Raised by a Navy pilot father, he started flying while living on a farm accessed by one of the country’s rural airstrips, experiences that he told FutureFlight shaped his perspective on AAM’s possibilities in Australia and nearby countries across the Asia Pacific rim.
“A&nbsp;lot of the world doesn’t fit the standard urban air mobility model, and we believe that the right type of eVTOL aircraft can change the social fabric of the planet and enable economies to accelerate,” Moore concluded. “Australia is one of the largest users of aviation in various forms, and has the world’s second-largest air ambulance market, which is predominantly&nbsp;government funded.”
Much of this activity is now based on fixed-wing aircraft, with helicopters deemed to be too expensive. AMSL is designing the Vertiia to be able to withstand Australia’s varied environmental conditions, which can include snow and blistering 40-degree Celsius temperatures.

Vertiia eVTOL Aircraft's Developers Seek To Maximize Range and Cost-efficient Operations

The new Greenbird consortium—which is&nbsp;working to develop advanced air mobility (AAM) in Australia—now has eight member organizations, with electric charging specialist Electro.Aero&nbsp;this week becoming the latest to join the group. Another key new participant is AMSL Aero, which seeks to bring what would be Australia’s first domestically&nbsp;built eVTOL aircraft to market.
According to Greenbird managing director Sara Hales, the country is well placed to be an early adopter of AAM technology and services. “Australia is politically stable, relatively wealthy, and has a unique set of mobility challenges that AAM is well-positioned to solve, particularly within the regional air mobility context,” she told FutureFlight. “Providing improved connectivity between geographically diverse areas is a good way to improve the economic and social performance of regional areas. AAM also offers opportunities to improve equity of access to transport and&nbsp;health care and to optimize [delivery of] other government services.”
Greenbird’s members are&nbsp;mindful that a global one-size-fits-all AAM business model can’t effectively be imposed across all markets. Australia’s landmass is vast but its population is relatively small, and much of it is concentrated along extended stretches of its eastern and southern coastlines.
The consortium’s main purpose is to galvanize and coordinate a combined industry-government response to help AAM fulfill its potential. “It’s time for various levels of government to develop a uniting vision, an actionable strategy, and a pragmatic roadmap for how we are going to ensure AAM in Australia develops in a way that supports Australia and is in the best interests of Australia’s people, communities, and economies,” Hales said. 
The good news, she explained, is that discussions between regulators and prospective service providers are gathering momentum. However, in Hales’s view, much of the focus is on how to expand the use of uncrewed drones&nbsp;rather than on&nbsp;larger new passenger-carrying aircraft. “There seems to be a feeling that AAM is an extension of the drone industry,” she commented. “Of course, it isn’t; it’s an extension of aviation, and the first-moving customers are a clear demonstration of this, with existing helicopter operators placing orders for eVTOL aircraft."
Among the new aircraft could be AMSL’s proposed five-seat <a href="https://www.futureflight.aero/aircraft-program/vertiia">Vertiia model</a>, which could also carry 500 kg (1,100 pounds) of cargo. Initially, the start-up is working on an all-electric vehicle with batteries, but it also has plans for a hydrogen-powered version.
The tilt-wing design consists of eight sets of motors and propellers installed across a blown-wing structure that surrounds the main fuselage. According to AMSL director Siobhan Lyndon, the company is already flight testing several subscale demonstrator models. 
AMSL has not published a clear timeline for service entry but is already engaged in the early stages of a type certification with Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority. It has not stated how much funding it has raised to support its plans&nbsp;or whether it will develop all key aircraft systems in-house or source them from suppliers and partners.
The Greenbird consortium is increasingly looking to the state of Queensland as a promising early testing ground for AAM operations, especially since the city of Brisbane is set to host the 2032 Olympic Games. The group feels that each of Australia’s states will want to shape its own AAM destiny according to its needs and circumstances.
“The Queensland government has an excellent track record in industry attraction, particularly within the aerospace and aviation sectors,” said Hales. “While Queensland’s cities might not be as big as Sydney or Melbourne, Southeast Queensland, considered as a whole, is a large population center, and AAM can add serious value there in terms of overcoming mobility and transport challenges. It also has a range of remote and regional communities where AAM could offer significant benefits.”
The other members of Greenbird are Brisbane’s Archerfield Airport, Griffith University, ground infrastructure group Skyports, aircraft operators Nautilus Aviation and Aviator Group, and planning specialist Aviation Projects.
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AMSL Aero

News

AMSL Prepares to Test Hydrogen-powered Vertiia eVTOL Aircraft

AMSL Starts Untethered Flight Tests with Vertiia eVTOL Aircraft

Australian Airline Group Signs Up For AMSL Vertiia eVTOL Aircraft

Aeromedical Group CareFlight Backs Development Work for Vertiia eVTOL Aircraft

AMSL's Vertiia eVTOL Aircraft Prototype Achieves Its First Hover Flights

Vertiia eVTOL Aircraft's Developers Seek To Maximize Range and Cost-efficient Operations

Australia's Greenbird Consortium Now Includes Local eVTOL Aircraft Developer AMSL

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