Technology for a proposed short take-off and landing (STOL) air taxi has passed computational fluid dynamics tests conducted over the past 12 months at City University's centre for aeronautics in London, UK.
The vertical thrust augmentation, horizontal stabiliser and wing designs for the aircraft, known as Jetpod by its UK developer Avcen, were studied in the computer simulations. The study of the new STOL vehicle also required the development of new computation mechanics software.
"The results obtained up to now indicate that the wing cross-section appears to be ideal for low- and high-speed flight, and that Jetpod's augmentation vertical thrust, as generated by deflecting a portion of the horizontal outlet jet downwards, does indeed lead to a reduction of the required take-off distance to under 125m [410ft]," says Dr Joe Iannelli, director of City University's centre for aeronautics.
As well as design assessment studies the company is discussing engine options with small gas turbine engine manufacturer Williams International.
Source: Flight International
