volerian, the quietest and safest flying car at farnborough airshow

aeronautical company volerian proposes a solution to the noisy and dangerous aircraft propulsive technologies presenting its newly-developed system at farnborough international airshow 2018. the unprecedented safety, quietness, and economy of the innovation enable a revolutionary new class of flying vehicles with characteristics that are unattainable with conventional fans or propellers.

ride-hailing will enable convenient aerial transport at short notice, anywhere and at low cost

volerian’s new propulsion system is much quieter and safer than the personal air transportation that uses propellers or conventional fan, because of the greater distribution of energy down the length of the oscillating wing and across the whole area of the array. the moving parts are almost inaccessible, to the extent that, in case someone actually fells onto the array, they remain unhurt.

flaps on this longer range design create a ‘deflected thrust’ system, turning the airflow 90 degrees to provide VTOL

work is being carried out to allow the wings to flap in an unpowered descent so that the drag created would cause the array to act like a parachute, preventing it from ‘falling out of the sky’. the area of volerian’s single seat urban aircraft concept will be roughly the same footprint as a large car and will be able to be used in any situation where a car can be used and more. the efficiency of the system is as good as a propeller and the final design is likely to be better.

a ‘large array’ volerian personal air vehicle is well adapted for urban transport and commuting

‘work on the propulsion system geometry and basic operation is largely complete and the development of the single seat personal aircraft will soon begin,’ explains the design team. ‘carbon fiber will be used to bring the weight down, while mass manufacturing techniques, such as pultrusion, will help keep costs down.’

the use of batteries and electric motors not only gives the system greater redundancy if some of the motors or wings fail, but it also makes the aircraft very environmentally friendly

the first flying car to really live up to the expectations of science fiction is now under development

living locations will no longer be tied to set transport infrastructure or nearby amenities

fast, long-range aircraft concepts can be designed with the ducted, flapping wings built into a conventional wing

electric VTOL aircraft require very little infrastructure on the ground and can reliably and quickly travel anywhere without the problems of congestion or traffic jams that plague ground cars

ducted fans have control and thrust problems arising from airflow at the duct lip in forwarding flight but volerian’s array, aligned with the direction of flight, allows air to flow straight through

the propulsion system can be adapted to different types of aircraft and sizes, including the use of different versions for specific parts of the flight profile

like a propeller, the system can be used on a conventional aircraft with the added benefits of a higher propulsive efficiency, less noise, and less danger

the basis of volerian’s propulsion system is an array of oscillating wings, with stator vanes, set into specially shaped ducts

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: maria erman | designboom