Horizon Aeronautics will release an eVTOL hybrid electric hoverbike that has an amazing variable pitch hemispheric rotor system. The new design promises to provide significant increases in efficiency and thrust for this and other future aircraft.
Horizon's Hoverbike looks like a jet ski and is powered by a compact hybrid-electric system. The aircraft will weigh approximately 380 kg, measure 2,70 meters by 1,20 meters (9 feet long, four feet wide) and will be able to accommodate one to three passengers on board.
Hemispherical rotor: the genesis
Horizon partnered with Blainjett Aviation, an innovative startup of aerodynamic propulsion technology, to develop an innovative solution called Dynamic Variable Pitch (DVP). The patented hemispherical rotor technology allows you to generate higher speeds with a much smaller size.
Horizon's Hoverbike looks like a jet ski and is powered by a compact hybrid-electric system. Credit: Horizon Aeronautics
Instead of adjusting the angle of attack of a helicopter or eVTOL rotor to generate forward thrust, Blainjett's DVP invention adjusts the pitch of the rotor blades over half of the rotor arc. The idea of hemispherical rotors is perfectly suited to an aircraft such as a flying motorbike, because it needs to stay straight while flying.
A unique shape: how it works
"When we realized we could arrange the lifting rotors in a way that maximizes available space," he explains the president of Blainjett Cary Zachary, "We understood that we have something unique".
How does the hemispherical rotor principle behind this unique eVTOL work? Instead of having each rotor fully exposed (like on a helicopter, so to speak), half of each multi-blade rotor “folds up” inside the hoverbike body. The blades increase in pitch as the hemispherical rotors pass through the outer half, and shrink as they pass through the fairing inside the hoverbike body.
In summary? More thrust and energy distribution with few hemispherical rotors.
“We are 2-3 times more efficient with 2-3 times greater power density and the same space. There is also a reduction in aerodynamic drag in forward flight ", says Zachary.
