How far does the unmanned aerial vehicle in the anime, the "flying taxi" that can shuttle in the low air of the city, leave human society? The scenes from science fiction movies are becoming a reality.
On March 18th, the world's first domestically developed "Air Taxi" Yihang EH216-S unmanned manned aircraft, which has obtained airworthiness certification, was launched on Taobao with a price tag of 2.39 million yuan per aircraft. It has completed airworthiness certification and is undergoing commercial trial operations worldwide.
2.39 million yuan of "air taxis" are on sale
The list price of 2.39 million yuan per aircraft is consistent with the official guide price for EH216-S announced by Yihang Intelligence in early February in China, which shows that it will officially take effect from April 1, 2024.
This time, Yihang Intelligence has opened up the sale of EH216-S aircraft on e-commerce platforms, which means that not only professional operators can place bulk orders and enter the market, but ordinary users can also place separate orders to purchase.
Selling airplanes online may sound novel, but it is not uncommon. For example, in early November 2021, Vision Flight Taobao flagship store launched two fixed wing light sports aircraft. The two aircraft are mainly used for institutional teaching and training purposes, and individuals can also take photos to use them as transportation vehicles.
The difference is that helicopters or light sports aircraft belong to manned aircraft, and the aircraft owner can either obtain a driver's license themselves or hire a pilot. The EH216-S is an unmanned aerial vehicle with only a few electronic screens inside the cockpit and no other control components.
Can carry 2 people, with a maximum distance of about 30 kilometers per trip
It is reported that EH216-S can carry two people, with a length of 6.05 meters, a width of 5.73 meters, and a height of 1.93 meters, consisting of 16 propellers; For fully intelligent unmanned aerial vehicles, capable of vertical takeoff and landing without the need for a runway, mainly flying in low altitude airspace.
The maximum range for a single flight is 30 kilometers in a straight line in the air, and the maximum flight speed can reach 130 kilometers per hour. Through the management of the ground command and dispatch system, multiple aircraft can complete orderly unmanned flight in the air.
Visually, the Yihang EH216-S resembles a helicopter with full propellers, but compared to traditional helicopters with individual rotors, the Yihang EH216-S has a total of 8 axes and up to 16 rotors, making it look like Dr. Octopus's tentacles from a distance. The biggest highlight of this aircraft is the use of a multi backup design concept for each key component, fully ensuring safe and smooth flight.
"There is still a big difference between the EH216-S and the commonly perceived helicopters," said He Tianxing, Vice President of Yihang Intelligence. "Yihang's EH216-S is powered by multiple rotors, which adjust the speed of each rotor to control attitude and cruising. At the same time, the 16 rotors and key components such as flight control are designed with multiple backups, fully ensuring safety. Even if a component fails during flight, its backup can be replaced in a timely manner to fully ensure flight safety."
He Tianxing said, "We will provide professional team services tailored to the situation of purchasing customers, ensuring that everyone has access to urban airspace approval, flight route setting, aircraft maintenance, engineer training, and other aspects. In cities that meet current regulatory requirements, flights can be carried out."
Another type of long range VT-30 aircraft product launched on this e-commerce platform has an air flight range of 300 kilometers. All overall configuration verifications and test flights have been completed, and airworthiness applications will also be conducted within this year.
Getting closer and closer to the "flying"
On March 1st, the electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOL) Shengshilong took off from the Shekou Cruise Home Port in Shenzhen, Guangdong, and after about 20 minutes of flight, landed at the Jiuzhou Port Terminal in Zhuhai. This is the first public demonstration flight of the world's first cross sea and cross city electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft route.
This aircraft can be regarded as an "aerial taxi". This successful flight means that the ground travel time from Shenzhen to Zhuhai, which is a one-way journey of 2.5 to 3 hours, can be shortened to 20 minutes.
The electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOL) "Shengshilong" is independently developed by Shanghai Fengfei Aviation Technology Co., Ltd. It has a takeoff weight of 2000 kilograms, can carry 5 people, and a cruising speed of up to 200 kilometers per hour. The core module is 100% domestically produced.
Xie Jia, Senior Vice President of Fengfei Aviation Technology, introduced that after large-scale application, the single seat ticket price from Shenzhen to Zhuhai in the future will be about two to three hundred yuan. "At present, taking a taxi from Shenzhen to Zhuhai costs five to six hundred yuan, which takes nearly three hours, and taking a boat costs over 100 yuan, which takes over an hour."
In addition to transportation hubs, future development will also include airport connections, airport to transportation hubs, and airport to urban commercial hubs.
After 5-10 years of operation, the entire system and ecological environment, including regulatory systems, will mature before entering the next stage. "At that time, if you open the app and click on it, an electric vertical aircraft will fly down from a distance and automatically take you to your destination."
I believe that in the near future, "flying out" will also become our daily life. Are you looking forward to it?