From BBC
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Reporting fromOxfordshire
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Imagine an electric drone mixed with a fixed wing plane – that is the concept behind a new two-seater aircraft being developed by start-up company, Skyfly.
The Axe promises the flexibility of a helicopter but without the cost, noise pollution or carbon emissions.
It is a vertically capable aircraft, or Electric Vertical Take-off and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft, which means it can take off like a helicopter.
It also has two fixed wings that allows it to take off and land from a runway.
The company claims the Axe has a top speed of 100mph, it can carry up to 172kg – approximately the weight of two 13.5st adults – and has a range of 100 miles, about the distance from Oxford to the Isle of Wight.
The team, based near Banbury in Oxfordshire, has taken five years to fine tune the design.
“Compared to a conventional aircraft it’s got eight motors which is very strange,” says Dr Bill Brooks, Skyfly’s chief technical engineer.
“And it’s a tail-first layout called a canard so it’s got the tail at the front. The all up weight is 750kg but 240kg of that are batteries so all the structure is carbon fibre to keep it as light as possible,” Dr Brooks says.
Safety is an important part of the design too.
‘Environmental benefits’
The large wings help it to glide in the event of power
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