High Expectations in Sin City

RYSE Aero Technologies, the Mason, Ohio-based aviation and aerospace component manufacturing company, will conduct daily on-site flight demonstrations of its RECON ultralight electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing (eVTOL) vehicle at the 2023 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.

RYSE Director of Regulatory Affairs and Aerodynamics Erik Stephansen will personally pilot the six-motor, six-rotor RECON electric aircraft in West Plaza outside the Las Vegas Convention Center at outdoor demo booth #WP-20—thereby making RYSE the first eVTOL concern to fly at CES.

RYSE CEO Mick Kowitz remarked: "Being the first aircraft to fly at CES is a big milestone for our company and product. Demonstrating the world's first Aerial Utility Vehicle (AUV) that anyone can fly at the most influential tech event in the world is an exciting opportunity for us. We have built this vehicle with the consumer in mind and we think everyone will identify with the RECON immediately."

Classified under FAR Part 103—which prescribes rules governing the operation of ultralight vehicles in the United States—the RECON is an all-electric aircraft designed to be flown by pilots and non-pilots alike. In the four-months since the RECON's first manned flight, RYSE has conducted numerous public flights and demonstrations at numerous agriculture and farming expos.

Visitors to both RYSE’s inside and outdoor CES demo booths will have opportunity to learn about RECON’s latest feature enhancements, including the Simplified Vehicle Operations Systems (SVO), which collectively ensure a low learning curve for operators; the Distributed Electric Propulsion (DEP), which increases vehicle safety and reliability; and RECON’s redundant artificial intelligence systems and enhanced battery pack capacity.

Aforementioned, RYSE Director of Regulatory Affairs and Aerodynamics Erik Stephansen set forth: "As the world's largest innovation stage, CES provides an unparalleled opportunity to showcase the RECON's cutting-edge technology. It's a fantastic honor to be the first person to fly an eVOTL vehicle here at CES. I'm excited to conduct daily flight demonstrations at the West Hall's outside demonstration area, giving attendees a chance to see firsthand how easy and intuitive the RECON is to operate."

RYSE Aero Technologies’s RECON is a sophisticated eVTOL, the six 40K V 52 pair pole, water-resistant motors of which are arranged quasi-circumferentially around a single-pilot occupant compartment. The batteries by which Recon’s half-dozen electric motors are powered can be removed for charging or replacement.

“A user could set up remote charging stations that are solar powered with more packs,” Mr. Kowitz posits. “That way, if they’re twenty-miles out and don’t feel they have the range to return, they could swap in fresh batteries from a remote station.”

RECON is capable of bearing aloft and accelerating its 250-pound payload to a top-speed of 55-knots. At the eVTOL’s 35-knot cruise-speed, operators can expect twenty-minutes of flight-time. Control of the aircraft is via joystick.

Of RECON’s drone-esque stability, Mr. Kowitz states: “We have an artificial intelligence system on board, almost like a supercomputer, for controls.”

The AI system keeps the aircraft stable when hovering, even in winds as high as 25-miles-per-hour. Should a pilot get to feeling out of his or her depth, RECON’s “Land Now” function maneuvers the contraption to a suitable, LIDAR-determined landing site, and lowers it safely to a level touch-down.

The six electric motors by which RECON is powered use removable battery packs that can be removed from their housings for charging. “The removable battery pack design makes it easy to charge, but it also means in the future if there are new battery technologies they could be added with upgraded packs,” Kowitz says.

Within the context of 21st Century aeronautical engineering, RECON’s design is a relatively simple one. The machine’s aircraft-grade aluminum frame supports its occupant compartment and six thrusters comprising discrete electric motors, battery packs, and carbon-fiber rotors. Upon exceeding their useful lives, the motors can be refurbished–as can the rotors. RYSE estimates the initial operating life of RECON’s batteries and motors to be approximately 2,500 hours.

FMI: www.ryseaerotech.com