固定翼付きeVTOLの開発に向けた基礎研究について

Abstract

Light electric planes have attracted increasing attention because of their advantages of zero-emission, noise abatement, and operational cost reduction. Some conceptual design methods have been developed for planes powered by engines using fossil fuels. However, those methods are not suitable for light electric planes because there is no mass reduction for the battery during operation. In addition, the devices of light electric planes are also quite different from those of the existing planes. In the present study, a new conceptual design method is proposed for light electric planes. Among various light electric planes , the eVTOL with fixed wings is selected in the present study because of its long range and high availability resulting from fixed wings and VTOL. A conceptual design of the eVTOL with fixed wings is developed considering its typical usage as an air taxi. In the conceptual design, no mass reduction of the battery and typical additional devices are considered for the eVTOL with fixed wings. From the results, a reasonable configuration and performance has been obtained for the eVTOL with fixed wings.