Critics of eVTOL aircraft developer Volocopter commonly point to what they say are excessively limited applications for its all-electric VoloCity model, which, initially, will carry a pilot plus one passenger on short, largely urban, trips of up to 22 miles. Eventually, the company expects the multicopter to be approved for autonomous operations, freeing up a second revenue-generating seat, but, until battery technology takes a big leap forward, range will still be limited to short hops.
So, the recent unearthing of a U.S. patent application for a larger model sheds new light on Volocopter's intentions. It features a diagram showing a pair of wings mounted on the top of the fuselage connected by beams, each fitted with three propellers for vertical lift. At the rear of the fuselage is a pair of propellers to drive cruise flight, although the patent description mentions that “ducted fans, jets, turbofans, or turbojets” might be considered as alternative propulsion architectures.
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