Dufour Aerospace has appointed Scandinavian rotorcraft sales and marketing group Savback Helicopters as a distributor for its planned Aero2 and Aero3 hybrid electric eVTOL aircraft in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, and Iceland. The Switzerland-based manufacturer indicated that Savback’s main priority will be finding commercial operators for the eight-seat Aero3 tilt-wing model, which is expected to achieve type certification in 2026. It will also market the Aero2 autonomous air vehicle, which could enter production in 2023.
The Aero3 is expected to have a payload range of almost 640 miles at speeds of 217 mph. Last year, Dufour unveiled a revised design that increased the number of wing-mounted propellers from four to six, as well as adding two more propellers on a new tail section that formerly incorporated ducted fans. The company expects to start test-flying a prototype by the end of 2022 as it prepares for certification under EASA’s special-condition VTOL rules.
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