news

hu senming, reporter of chao news client

recently, after review by the civil aviation administration of china southwest region, the wofei changkong design assurance system (das) was successfully approved. this is the first approved manned evtol design assurance system in the country.

what kind of development model has wofei changkong, which adopts the tilt-rotor technology route, chosen for the development of evtol? a reporter from chao news visited wofei changkong to find out.

wofei changkong ae200 electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft airworthiness (evtol) technology verification aircraft. photo provided by the interviewee

entering the third stage of tc evidence collection

domestic civil aircraft need to obtain "three major certificates" to be airworthy: type certificate (tc), production certificate (pc), and airworthiness certificate (ac). among them, type certificate (tc) is the first step in airworthiness certification and the basis for subsequent production and operation.

regarding the progress of airworthiness certification, fei lan, marketing director of wofei changkong, told chao news reporters that in november 2022, ae200 received the tc application acceptance notice. in may of this year, the ae200 airworthiness meeting was held and officially entered the third stage. it is expected that tc certification work will be completed in 2026.

in addition to the progress made in tc certification, the company has also made achievements in flight technology verification. it is understood that in june 2024, ae200 completed all subjects of a series of flight tests including full-scale, full-weight, and full-envelope tilt transition, becoming the first evtol company in china and the second in the world to complete such test subjects.

there are three main technical routes in the field of manned evtol: multi-rotor, composite wing, and tilt-rotor. the difficulty of research and development of the three increases in turn. among them, the tilt-rotor configuration has obvious advantages in endurance, speed, load and comfort. at present, domestic companies that adopt the tilt-rotor route include ae200 of wofei changkong, e20 of shi technology, and zg-t6 of zero gravity.

fei lan introduced that ae200 is a 5-6-seat tilt-rotor pure electric vertical take-off and landing manned evtol. ae200 adopts a high-wing vector thrust configuration. compared with multi-rotor or lift + propulsion configuration evtol, it has less aerodynamic resistance, thus having higher efficiency and longer range, as well as better ride comfort.

in terms of safety, the ae200 adopts a distributed electric propulsion system with multi-power redundancy and fail-safe design. at the same time, it is equipped with a non-similar redundant flight control system, a high-power density and high-safety level battery assembly, advanced situational awareness, online decision-making and avoidance technologies, which greatly improve the safety of low-altitude aircraft in dangerous flight conditions and in the event of failure of a single power unit.

choose a manned evtol

when asked why she chose the evtol track, fei lan said that the high-altitude aircraft market is already very mature and there are not many opportunities for new players. in the medium and low-altitude field, the only mature low-altitude aircraft is helicopters, but traditional helicopters are noisy and expensive to use, making them difficult to benefit the general public, and they are in urgent need of other products to supplement them.

in addition, wofei changkong also noticed that compared with general aviation airports in the united states, china's land supply is tight and is restricted by the urban structure. low-altitude aircraft with vertical take-off and landing can get rid of the constraints of dedicated flight runways or motor vehicle roads.

wofei changkong positions evtol as a means of transportation for future low-altitude travel. the ultimate goal is large-scale normalized commercial operation of urban three-dimensional transportation, so it has chosen the manned evtol product path.

in june 2024, wofei changkong completed a b round of financing of hundreds of millions of yuan. in just one year, wofei changkong has completed three rounds of financing, which also proves that wofei changkong's evtol track has been recognized by investors.

in the view of huakong fund, the lead investor in wofei changkong's series a financing, evtol is one of the core vehicles of the low-altitude economy and will play a vital role in low-altitude travel, tourism, emergency rescue and other fields. since huakong fund's first investment, wofei changkong has maintained rapid development and is in the leading position in the industry in terms of product maturity, airworthiness progress, and commercial cooperation.

"evtol is a new generation of low-altitude aircraft. as a new thing, manned evtol has a higher possibility of market implementation and is more easily accepted by society due to many considerations such as safety, passenger acceptance, and convenience of aviation operation management." fei lan explained why wofei changkong currently chose manned evtol.

fei lan said, "we believe that autonomous driving is the future development direction, just like autonomous driving of ground vehicles, it needs to be done step by step. although ae200 has the conditions for intelligent (unmanned) driving, it still has a driver."

for example, in dealing with emergency situations, if a drone invades the flight route during flight, the judgment and handling of the drone's behavior, if solved by an automatic system, will require more new technical support, which is far higher than the technical requirements for industrial drones. especially in complex environments such as those above cities, it will be more convenient and safer for the pilot to make judgments.

low-altitude economy is rapidly gaining ground around the world

fei lan believes that at present, many countries and regions are also conducting experiments and research related to evtol products. although foreign oems entered the market earlier and have accumulated more technical experience and financial resources, the technical foundation of evtol (including new energy power, intelligent driving, etc.) is highly overlapping with the new energy vehicle industry chain, which is the key to my country's advantage in this competition.

regarding the future application scenarios of low-altitude economy, fei lan said that low-altitude travel is the main application target in the future. according to the concept, people can use the air express to set fixed take-off and landing points and flight schedules to achieve point-to-point air access within the city area; or in the air taxi mode, consumers only need to enter the destination on the app to book a "flying taxi".

taking chengdu as an example, the time of flying from the center of europe to chengdu tianfu international airport is shortened by four-fifths. in the future, ae200 will operate in conjunction with new energy special vehicles on the premise of scientifically planning station routes to achieve seamless connection, so that flying will become more convenient and comfortable.

wofei changkong expects that the first generation of oems will complete research and development and gradually complete airworthiness certification in 2025-2026. from 2026 to 2030, commercial trial operation of point-to-point fixed flight routes between cities will be launched; after 2030, it will enter the normal operation stage. in the future, more efficient and more convenient transportation scenarios will gradually become a reality.

fei lan pointed out that the current evtol r&d faces international technical barriers, and its design and manufacturing involve multiple complex systems, including power systems, flight control systems, safety systems, etc. therefore, if china wants to develop evtol, various low-altitude enterprises need to continue to promote the r&d and innovation of evtol technology, break through core technologies, improve product safety, reduce manufacturing costs, and lay the foundation for large-scale commercial applications.

in addition, the opening of low-altitude airspace is one of the important factors for the development of the industry. airspace is an important strategic resource of the country. effective airspace management can optimize the use of airspace resources. by rationally planning flight routes and altitudes, it can ensure flight safety and improve the efficiency of airspace utilization.

the development of evtol is not limited to the domestic market. fei lan suggested that evtol companies can actively explore the international market and work with global partners to promote the popularization and application of evtol technology, enhance international competitiveness, and help my country's low-altitude economy quickly "take over" the world.

at present, many evtols have been launched overseas. at the just-concluded paris olympics, volocopter, a partner of wofei changkong, successfully completed the world's first evtol manned flight test in the palace of versailles in france; ehang intelligent has flown in 16 countries in europe, latin america, asia and other regions, and has received orders from customers in the uae, europe, indonesia, malaysia and japan; fengfei aviation technology completed the world's first long-distance flight of a ton-class evtol in the middle east in the uae...

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