Wed, Oct 09, 2019
'Heaviside' Said To Be 100 Times Quieter Than A Conventional Helicopter
The latest eVTOL concept aircraft developed by Kitty Hawk has been publicly unveiled in a short video produced by the company. Called "Heaviside" as an homage to noted physicist and electrical engineer Oliver Heaviside, the aircraft is said to be 100 times quieter than a conventional helicopter.
Wired reports that Kitty Hawk has been developing the aircraft for about two years, and joins two other eVTOL aircraft to be introduced by the company. The single-seat Flyer is intended for recreational use, and operated at up to 10 feet above ground level. The larger, 10-rotor Cora is being tested in New Zealand as part of the Uber Elevate program.
The Heaviside has eight motors driving rotors. Six of those are mounted on a forward-swept wing, while two are on a canard surface on the nose of the aircraft. The wings generate most of the lift during horizontal flight, while the rotors assist in low-speed control.
In the video released by the company, the aircraft is shown flying at about 1,500 feet while producing about 38 decibels of sound, compared to about 60 dBA from a conventional helicopter at a similar altitude. A company spokesperson said that so far, all of the flights have been conducted through remote control.
Kitty Hawk has kept its goals for the Heaviside aircraft pretty close to the vest, but it does appear to be a move towards a final candidate for Urban Air Mobility and a more fully-developed noise-control strategy.
(Images from Kitty Hawk YouTube video)
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