Electric AircraftOn this episode I am speaking to Thomas Pfammatter, who is the co-founder of the Swiss electric aircraft startup Dufour Aerospace. Dufour is currently designing an electric aircraft with vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) capabilities for the urban and rural transport market. The promise of their current aircraft, the aEro 2, is that with VTOL capabilities it can take-off and land pretty much anywhere, which can considerably reduce travel times, especially to places that are difficult to reach by car or train.

There is a long-standing compromise in aviation between taking-off vertically, and being able to travel fast horizontally. Dufour Aerospace believes that with electric propulsion it is possible to combine these two worlds. To achieve this, Dufour are using a tilt-wing design fitted with two propellers. The wing and attached propellers can pivot around a hinge between the horizontal and vertical planes, and thereby provide exceptional lift, stability and control characteristics even in slow flight. Dufour have proven their electrical aviation ambitions with the aEro1 aerobatic aircraft and are currently in the process of developing the tilt-wing aEro 2 airplane. In this episode you will learn about many of the details behind Dufour’s technology such as:

  • the tilt-wing concept and the tail fan used for pitch control
  • the aerodynamic importance of the vortex ring state
  • the future of regional travel and how Dufour hopes to influence this space

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This episode is also sponsored by StressEbook.com, which is an online hub for you if you are interested in aerospace stress engineering. StressEbook.com provides world-class engineering services and online courses on the stress analysis of aircraft structures, as well as a free ebook and blog. No matter if you’re a junior or senior structural analyst, stressEbook.com provides you with the skills and know-how to become a champion in your workplace.


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One Response to Podcast Ep. #14 – Dufour Aerospace Co-Founder Thomas Pfammatter on the aEro2 VTOL Electric Aircraft

  1. […] AnalySwift is excited to be partnering with the Aerospace Engineering Podcast, where Rainer Groh highlights exciting developments in aerospace engineering. More than 15,000 people visited the Aerospace Engineering Blog last month to learn something new about aerospace engineering.  The most recent episode, sponsored by AnalySwift, is on an electric VTOL aircraft for the urban and regional aviation market. […]

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