PENDLETON, ORE. – According to SOAR Oregon, a subsidiary of French aircraft manufacturer Airbus called A^3 (pronounced “A-cubed”) is the first occupant of a new 9,300 square foot hangar at the Eastern Oregon Regional Airport at Pendleton. A^3 is the advanced projects and partnerships outpost of Airbus in Silicon Valley. A^3 announced Project Vahana last year.
SOAR Oregon and Modern Technology Solutions, Inc. partnered up for Project Vahana and decided that the Pendleton UAS Test Range was the best fit out of the available options. Jeff Mambry, MTSI Flight Test Lead said that “from nearly a dozen sites across the western United States that we evaluated, the Pendleton UAS Test Range quickly stood out as a premier test location for our unique test program.” Mambry further said that “we look forward to continued support from PUR and SOAR Oregon as we move toward a successful demonstration.”
According to the A^3 blog, the design team wanted a low-cost, single-passenger, electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft that is capable of providing service to a large number of people. The designers decided that an eight fan, tilt-wing design was optimal due to improved cruise aerodynamics when compared with a more conventional electric helicopter design. The MatLab source code that was used for multidisciplinary design optimization is available for download via GitHub.
The aircraft’s mission is “a vertical takeoff, transition to forward flight, cruise for a specified distance, a transition back to a hover, and a vertical landing.” The takeoff and landing sequences are not assumed to contribute to the total distance traveled, and are assumed to be limited to about 90 seconds. Project Vahana’s flight range is 50 miles. A common payload wight was assumed to be 250 pounds, representing a single passenger with a carry-on bag.
A^3 plans to begin flight tests by the end of 2017, hoping to have a model ready for production by 2020.
Project Vahana takes its name from a Sanskrit word that means “that which carries, that which pulls.” In Hindu mythology a vahana is a mythical being that is ridden by a deity.