Transcend VTOL Aircraft outperforms city-to-city travel models
Are you fed up with the current airline model, where you have to leave your house at least 3 hours before departure, have to wait for what feels like an eternity at both ends of your flight, only to experience another painful wait plus ground sway on the flight back end? Peter Schmidt, co-founder and chief operating officer of Transcend Air, a vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) company, explains how his team plans to turn this model upside down and transform the travel model from city to city with their award-winning Vy plane.
Schmidt founded the company on the basis of his many years of experience with regional airlines in a service-oriented manner. “VTOL aircraft need an accessible infrastructure and, above all, an affordable and high quality service model in order to have a positive impact on society and solve the current mobility problem from city to city, ”he explains.
This problem includes airports themselves built around centralized hubs that require walking through already heavily congested cities and adding hours to each end of the commute. In addition to commuting on the ground, travelers at the airport have to spend even more time waiting at the airport. “Airports are money makers. They’ve become malls and restaurants to make waiting a little less painful. you‘We have added hotels and car rental companies due to the time and land travel associated with air travel. Unfortunately, many Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) companies have developed models that include glorified airports for VTOL that they call Vertiports. That won‘not solve the real mobility problem, ”says Schmidt.
Transcend has developed a three-stage model to challenge the status quo. Step 1, you won’t have any airports. The company will work with a distributed architecture, floating base structures called Vy Ports. These launch ramps will reduce the need for commercial ground travel as they are within walking distance of the city centers. Accessibility in every respect is the be-all and end-all for Transcend. They designed both their Vy Ports and their aircraft to be accessible to everyone, including those with physical disabilities.
Speaking of design, steps 2 and 3 concern the aircraft itself. Step 2 is the Vy 400‘s VTOL design that allows flexible take-off and landing to and from these urban vy-ports. According to Schmidt, “VTOL gives us access to the high-demand centers of the cities, where we can offer a meaningful timetable at competitive prices. “
Level 3 is its tilt wing, which allows it to fly at speeds in excess of 400 miles per hour. That’s three times faster than helicopters. Schmidt says “Speed saves money through greater efficiency. The Vy can make more flights a day than a helicopter, and that keeps prices down. ”The Vy will get commuters from San Francisco to San Diego in an hour and twenty minutes. Incredibly, this is done at 50% of the cost per mile of a helicopter – the trip would take nearly four hours. Similarly, with a forecast of $ 283 each way from Boston to New York City, the Vy undercuts the door-to-door cost of the typical land travel plus regional fare combo required on a flight today. In December 2020, independent industry expert Abbott Aerospace Canada ranked the Vy 400 # 1 out of 220 advanced aircraft designs.
“It is in this city-to-city air travel market that our hearts at Transcend are. But we are also disrupting two other key markets, ”explains Schmidt. The first is the $ 4.5 billion helicopter market. Transcend developed the Vy 400R, Reserved Edition, VIP design approved by the Robb Report, the leading voice in global luxury markets, as of 2020. has been classified “Best of the Best “VTOL concept in aviation. The spacious Vy 400R offers superior interior space at half the price, three times as fast and at a quarter of the cost of ownership of a mid-sized executive next-generation helicopter.
The Vy also made its debut in the military market. The United States Air Force AFWERX and the Special Operations Command want to use Transcend to revolutionize personnel recovery missions to rescue downed soldiers, sailors, Airmen and Marines on the battlefield. Two weeks ago AFWERX announced a new High Speed VTOL Challenge in which Transcend expects to play a crucial role. Schmidt says “The US lost in simulated war games to almost equal ranked enemies from the first world. They will destroy our runways. The military needs VTOL aircraft that can take off from almost anywhere in order to evolve beyond dependence on the runway. The Vy is 133% faster than a V-22 Osprey at takeoff and can be upgraded to 500 mph with engines already in development. At this speed it can rescue people from an area six times larger than a helicopter. “
Whether city-to-city or field hospital to rescue site, the Vy tries to outperform the competition. For more information, contact Peter and the Transcend Air team at [email protected]
Dawn MK Zoldi (Colonel, USAF, retired) is a licensed attorney with 28 years of combined active military and federal civil service with the Department of the Air Force. She is an internationally recognized expert on the law and politics of unmanned aircraft systems, a columnist for several magazines, winner of the Woman to Watch in UAS (Leadership) Award 2019, President and CEO of UAS Colorado and CEO of P3 Tech Consulting LLC. You can find more information on their website at: https://www.p3techconsulting.com.
Miriam McNabb is the Editor-in-Chief of DRONELIFE and CEO of JobForDrones, a professional marketplace for drone services, and a passionate observer of the emerging drone industry and regulatory environment for drones. Author of over 3,000 articles focusing on the commercial drone space, Miriam is an international speaker and recognized figure in the industry. Miriam graduated from the University of Chicago and has over 20 years experience in high-tech sales and marketing for emerging technologies.
For advice or writing on the drone industry, email Miriam
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