The car of the future that will fly with hydrogen and will not have wings

[Akrapovic]

The CityHawk will not have wings or propellers in sight; It will fly through two internal rotors.

When speaking of flying cars, one thinks of vehicles with wings and similar to planes or blades and similar to helicopters, but the CityHawk (urban hawk), developed by the Israeli firm Urban Aeronautics (UA), uses a different propulsion system, based on two large rotors, each with two propellers that rotate in the opposite direction on the same axis

This new type of urban aircraft, technically referred to as the "vertical take-off and landing electric trolley" (eVTOL Flying Car), is being developed on a large scale by Urban's subsidiary, Metro Skyways, and its first manned flights they are planned for 2021 or 2022, according to UA.

The CityHawk will be equivalent to a taxi or a family sedan, both in appearance and capacity for passengers, and will have the ability to land anywhere and fly anywhere, from a rooftop or street to an island or different natural environments.

This aircraft can fly at 270 kilometers per hour; travel distances of between 150 and 360 kilometers, depending on the number of occupants; It will transport 760 kilos, land on a surface of 3 by 8 meters, and produce a sound of up to 70 decibels A (a unit of sound level), reveals its technical sheet.

According to its creators, these features are advantageous, compared to other eVTOLs currently in development, and make it particularly suitable as an air taxi, for the private transport of door-to-door executives and rapid response to emergencies and search and rescue tasks, including in places inaccessible to helicopters.

The absence of engines and transmissions above the head of the passengers will eliminate almost all of the vibration and much of the noise, explain from UA. "Our aircraft is designed to be as compact and as many people as possible." Says Janina Frankel-Yoeli, Vice President of marketing at UA.

The promise of this flying car is to offer different flight modes, providing a mobility in the three dimensions of the space free of obstacles, flying over the crowded cities of cars, buses and trucks at ground level, adds the firm, based in the city of Yavne (Israel).

This will be powered by two turbo-jet engines (gas turbine engines that deliver their power through an axis, similar to those of turboprop) with 1,000 horsepower, coupled to electric power generators.

The current version weighs, empty, 1,170 kilograms and weighs 1,930 kilograms, with occupants and fuel.

In addition, it will be equipped with two Arriel 2N Turboshaft helicopter engines from Safran, with low emission of nitrogen oxide (NOx), such as those used by some Airbus models.

The company has announced that when the basic model of this aircraft obtains the certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the main power source of the CityHawk will be redesigned to transform it into a vehicle that is 100% "clean" (emission-free). pollutants) with propulsion powered by hydrogen.

The engines of the current version will be connected to electric generators, which charge a series of batteries, whose energy helps to propel the vehicle for forward movement, reports the New Atlas technology magazine.

But the energy provided by these batteries is still not high enough to obtain a useful range of propulsion, so UA is planning to convert this flying car to be powered by hydrogen fuel cells, according to publication.

Fuel cells are devices that generate electricity through chemical reactions, instead of using combustion, using hydrogen as a fuel, generating only water and heat as byproducts, with minimal environmental pollution.