FutureFlight
Ascendance Reveals New Design for Atea Hybrid-Electric VTOL Aircraft
The revised version of the five-seater features additional in-wing ducted fans and an extra horizontal propeller, as well as improved access to the passenger cabin.
Ascendance Flight Technologies Atea
Ascendance Flight Technologies has made significant changes to the design of its Atea hybrid-electric VTOL aircraft. (Image: Ascendance Flight Technologies)

Ascendance Flight Technologies this week unveiled a significantly revised design for the Atea hybrid-electric VTOL aircraft that it aims to certify by 2025. The French start-up has spent the past three years detailing plans for the five-seat, lift-and cruise model, which is is expected to deliver a range of  250 miles and speeds of 124 mph.

Digital images released on December 1 show eight ducted fans for vertical lift, with four installed in the main wing and four more in a new large canard, as well a single horizontal propeller at the top of the tail section and another in the nose of the aircraft. An earlier design, released by the Toulouse-based company in February, had just a pair of ducted fans for vertical lift in the inner-wing section and a single three-bladed propeller in the nose.

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