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SkyBus

05 / Iterations

Five iterations

Every step was modelled, simulated or flown.

  1. 01 — Coandă sphere

    01Concept study

    Coandă sphere

    The Coandă configuration needs 3,033 kWh for the same 12-seat mission — six times the compound wing.

  2. 02 — Coandă disc

    02Concept study

    Coandă disc

  3. 03 — Ring-shrouded quad

    03Sub-scale flight article

    Ring-shrouded quad

    Built and flown at sub-scale.

  4. 04 — Ducted quad · with ramp

    04Sub-scale flight article

    Ducted quad · with ramp

    Built and flown at sub-scale, with the aft boarding ramp.

  5. 05 — SkyBus-CW3Current
    Built — compound wing, four coaxial nacellesBuilt

    05Current design

    SkyBus-CW3

    508 kWh for the mission — one fifth of a pure multirotor — and 7–8 km of glide on the wing if the power goes away.

Why it converged on a compound wing

Stored energy needed to fly the same 12-seat mission, by configuration. Lower is better.

  • Coandă lift bodyConcept study

    3,033

  • Pure multirotorNo wing, hover all the way

    2,419

  • Fixed wingNeeds a runway

    649

  • Compound wing — CW3Selected

    508

    ↳ Selected