Introduction:  

The aeronautics industry has been experiencing deep evolutions since the last decade. From one side, an ecological awareness is pushing strongly in order to reduce pollution emission and environmental footprint.  From the other side, new trends and needs in mobility are rising towards more autonomous vehicles. The reduction of weight, fuel consumption and noise has
been a continuous concern for many years, in order to improve A/C performances. Linked to these challenges, new concepts have been rising and, in particular, what is named as Urban Air Mobility.

The “dream” of a electrically propelled flying car is now starting to become reality, and several demonstrators have been proposed worldwide. However, autonomy and performances are still limited, and one main question is to know how far we can go in the performances, taking into account the technology evolution. This is the spirit of the following Challenge.

CHALLENGE

QUESTION  What is the max payload (in kg) that can be achieved for a eVTOL, with no CO2 emission by the vehicle, according to the specifications below?

SPECIFICATION• range: 100km (54nm) + 25km (13nm) of backup;
• cruise speed: 135 kts;
• height with respect to ground:500 ft, and maximum altitude above sea level: 3500 ft QNH;
• maximum take-off weight MTOW: 2.5 metric tons;
• as a guideline, A/C size should fit into a 15 meters diameter circle;
• Entry into Service 2025

GLOSSARY
• A/C: aircraft
• FDC: flight deck crew (e.g. pilot)
• MTOW: Maximum Take Off Weight
• QNH: referring to altitude above sea level;
• PAX: passengers (not including FDC);
• UAM: Urban Air Mobility;
• E-VTOL: Electric Vertical Take Off and Landing

EXPECTATIONS
Students should provide following data:
• general description and architecture of the aircraft:
• length, span, shape, number of wings (if any);
• type and number of propulsors? (e.g. fans, propellers with or without pitch
• control, rotor with collective and cyclic control, …)?  Pls provide maximum thrust level of each propulsor.

For all components, please provide mass and volume.

Concepts of operation (conops):
• Passengers (number of people: FDC, PAX and handling) and / or cargo (mass and handling)?
• Energy refill strategy;
• How the A/C is operated from an operational point of view?
• Operating limitations;

Propulsive Chain:
• what system for power generation? Provide mass, power, volume, voltage, operating temperature);
• what system for energy storage? Provide mass, energy, volume, operating temperature;
• electrical distribution system: for all components, please provide mass, voltage, operating temperature, volume;
• electrical motor (if any): voltage, torque, mass, volume.

For all presented figures, the following data shall be provided:
• details of the calculations made, hypotheses and justification (example: energy density of batteries);
• details of aerodynamics calculation per flight phase: take-off, cruise, transition, landing;
• detailed mass breakdown: structure, seats, propulsive chain, electrical distribution, etc…

ELIGIBILITY
More than one design may be submitted from students at any one school.
Teams can consist of the following:
• Undergraduate students
• Graduate students
• Combine Undergrad and Graduate students

COPYRIGHT
All submissions to the competition shall be the original work of the team members. Authors retain copyright ownership of all written works submitted to the
competition. By virtue of participating in the competition, team members and report authors grant AIAA non-exclusive license to reproduce submissions,
in whole or in part, for all of AIAA’s current and future print and electronic uses. Appropriate acknowledgment will accompany any reuse of materials.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST
It should be noted that it shall be considered a conflict of interest for a design professor to write or assist in writing RFPs and/or judging proposals submitted if
(s)he will have students participating in, or that can be expected to participate in those competitions. A design professor with such a conflict must refrain
from participating in the development of such competition RFPs and/or judging any proposals submitted in such competitions.