Latest In Advanced Air Mobility Showcased At EBACE 2022
May 24, 2022
China's EHang 216
Product of the Guangzhou EHang Intelligent Technology Co Ltd, founded 2014, China’s EHang 216 employs stacked mini-rotors to provide helicopter-like performance, because electric motors are unable to provide the torque necessary to drive a single, full-size rotor. Credit: Mark Wagner/Aviation-Images
EHang 216 Interior
As shown on Booth IZ06, EHang is a two-seater, but note the absence of controls. The touch-screen provides all interface between passengers and machine. Credit: Mark Wagner/Aviation-Images
EHang 216 Rotor Blades
The eight rotor arms, each with a pair of contrarotating rotors, can be folded upwards for storage. Credit: Mark Wagner/Aviation-Images
Lilium Jet
Lilium (Booth IZ05) was established in Germany in 2015 and worked initially on a two-seater before uprating the design to a larger regional air taxi. The craft incorporates rows of small, electric-driven, shrouded fans on the wings and foreplanes, which hinge 90 degrees for transition between vertical and horizontal flight. Credit: Mark Wagner/Aviation-Images
Lilium Jet Cockpit
A pilot can be very much in control of the Lilium Jet via sidesticks, although the only flight of the type has been by a remotely piloted demonstrator. Credit: Mark Wagner/Aviation-Images
Lilium Jet Interior Model
The single-piloted Lilium Jet equipped to carry four executive passengers in the "club" configuration. Credit: Mark Wagner/Aviation-Images
Lilium Jet Model On Stand
Model of the next stage in the Lilium Jet's development. The "almost biplane" configuration is of note. Credit: Mark Wagner/Aviation-Images
PAL-V's Autogyro The Liberty
PAL-V (Booth IZ02) formed in the Netherlands in 2000 to develop a roadable autogyro powered by a Rotax piston engine. A considerably revised design, the Liberty, was shown in 2016, but the planned early-2020 deliveries have not taken place. Credit: Mark Wagner/Aviation-Images
PAL-V's Roadable Autogyro The Liberty
Ready for the road—but the folding rotor poses considerable structural challenges during flight. Credit: Mark Wagner/Aviation-Images
Vehicles on display from China, Germany and Netherlands bear witness to humanity’s quest for bird-like mobility—perhaps without too much of the footwork at the other end. They are representatives of a greater global effort; an initiative whose time might have come at last, thanks to recent advances in electric propulsion, aerodynamics, computer technology and materials. Autonomous or self-piloted, they have been the stuff of dreams for over a century. Now, they are here in Geneva, but are they here to last?
