Focus Was On Urban Air Mobility And Early Market Opportunities

Jay Carter, Jr., founder and CEO of Carter Aviation Technologies, LLC  was invited to participate in a forum at the CAFE Foundation Electric Aircraft Symposium this past weekend in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The symposium focused on ‘Urban Air Mobility: Emerging Technologies and Early Market Opportunities’, and featured many notable speakers from government and industry. Jay participated in the eVTOL Developer Panel Presentation and Discussion, highlighting Carter’s new electric air taxi concept.

Carter’s electric air taxi concept is being developed for the Uber Elevate initiative. Uber plans to start an all-electric air taxi service with initial demonstrations by 2020. They have partnered with several manufacturers and developers, including Carter. Uber has developed a challenging set of requirements for their project, including vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) combined with efficient cruise at ~175 mph, low noise, and eventual full autonomy (although Uber expects initially to have a pilot onboard).

Carter’s patented Slowed Rotor Compound (SR/C) technology uniquely fulfills Uber’s requirements. The air taxi will be a 4-6 seat aircraft for the intra-city market. SR/C technology allows for efficient hover nearly equivalent to a helicopter, but with high speed cruise efficiency on par with a fixed-wing airplane. The slow turning rotor and scimitar propeller design offer much lower noise than conventional VTOL aircraft, while the high inertia rotor provides excellent safety, acting in effect as a built-in parachute that can be ‘deployed’ at any altitude or any airspeed, providing directional control all the way down to the ground.

Jay was excited to participate in this forum. The CAFE Foundation is a research and education organization with a 30 year history in testing and evaluation of small aircraft. CAFE’s mission is to advance the development of low emission flight by fostering and promoting early entry practical market opportunities. They host the Electric Aircraft Symposium annually, bringing together experts in the fields of small aircraft, electric motor and battery technologies, and others.

(Source: Carter Aviation Technologies media release. Image from file)

FMI: www.CarterCopters.com