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IN DEVELOPMENT
IN DEVELOPMENT
Choose your own aircraft
The wing can land with or without a pod. Each pod has its own landing gear
Readers of a certain age will surely remember Thunderbird Two, the versatile green aircraft, piloted by Virgil Tracey, that transported rescue vehicles and equipment in detachable capsules called pods in the 1960s children’s TV show Thunderbirds. Well, meet Thunderbird Two’s real-world counterpart: Flexcraft.
Flexcraft’s innovative modular design enables it to be rapidly reconfigured for a range of different flight scenarios. Different cabins can be swapped in and out of the carbonfibre-composite wing, allowing the aircraft to be used for a range of uses including short-hop passenger transport, search-and-rescue operations and freight transport. The passenger cabin, which is currently configured to seat nine, features panoramic wrap-around windows for spectacular views.
Only 13 metres in length, it will be capable of being remotely operated and of taking off on very short runways. At present, the plan is for the aircraft’s fan-in-wing propulsion to be powered by a hybrid-electric powerplant, but a number of other propulsion schemes are being considered. It will have a range of 926 kilometres, an empty weight of 1,814 kilograms and a maximum take-off weight of 3,239 kilograms.
The aircraft is being developed by a consortium of companies and institutions that work in industrial design, aeronautical engineering, process engineering and aircraft manufacturing, including Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer and Portuguese industrial design company Almadesign. Started in 2016, the project will conclude with the flight testing of an unmanned prototype. ■
The detachable pods can be configured for up to nine passengers...
...or given the high-spec treatment to suit four VIP passengers. ...or they can be set up to respond to a medical emergency...
A full-scale cabin mock up recently went on display in Lisbon
