Today, several companies around the world are developing hybrid aircrafts. One of them is SAMAD Aerospace, a technology startup based in the United Kingdom. The company has launched a new paradigm in Personal Air Vehicles (PAVs): Q-Starling, a concept of two-seater vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) passenger plane. With this concept, the startup wants to represent a new height in the design of sustainable high-end personal aircraft of the future.
Combining the benefits of traditional flight with the capabilities of VTOL, the Q-Starling will accommodate two passengers and can be flown by pilots with the appropriate type rating. On paper, the Q-Starling is 7.92 meters wide for a length of 8.08 meters and weighs around 1,040kg (2,300lb). It allows you to fly from a tennis court or super-yacht helipad to an event 500 miles (around 800 km) away in under 2 hours at a speed of 250kt (300mph / 463 km/h).
This clever mix of a fighter jet and VTOL is planned to be created according to the scheme of a midplane with a T-shaped tail. It will be powered by Hybrid-electric propulsion, with turbo-generators running on bio-diesel/SAF backed up by batteries during the power-hungry takeoff and landing. The turbo-generator is lighter than a conventional turbo-shaft, with its heavy gearbox and exhaust splitter. The turbo-generator then becomes a turbo-jet in conventional flight.
Q-Starling hovers using the thrust of a single large diameter fan, while the “Reaction Control System” (RCS) fans in the wing and tailplane maintain control and balance. The RCS responds to controls from the pilot via the fly-by-wire system to ensure the critical phases of transition to and from wingborne flight remain within the safety envelope.
The interior has an elegant and exclusive design, and the cockpit has been designed according to the highest standards of automotive comfort, which will include additional transparency and synthetic vision to improve situational awareness. According to SAMAD Aerospace, it would only take 10 hours of training for a person with a pilot’s license to be able to master the aircraft, and in case of problems, the aircraft is equipped with a parachute cell. For now, it’s difficult to know if this attractive concept will really see the light of day.
Earlier, the British company SAMAD Aerospace began assembling a prototype of a promising hybrid business aircraft Starling with vertical takeoff and landing, reduced by half. Ground tests of the prototype are scheduled to begin in September 2020. In total, two prototypes of the new aircraft are currently being assembled.
News Source: InceptiveMind
