The Future of Advanced Air Mobility

Blockchain technology group Vimana Global is developing what it intends to be a family of eVTOL aircraft under its Autonomous Aerial Vehicle program. Although the aircraft vary in size, each shares a core platform of fore and aft tilting wings and four electric propellers powered by electric or hybrid-electric motors. The aircraft are meant to serve a variety of applications, including cargo, emergency response and commuter transportation. The company, which has a specialization unmanned aircraft traffic management, says the AAVs will be able fly in adverse weather conditions, have detect-and-avoid capability and be able to autonomously fly "coordinated flight paths."

The Vimana program is using modular a modular approach to designing the AAVs, meaning the aircraft can be shipped to its intended destination in parts and assembled on-site. 

The company is currently developing single-seat and four-seat versions of its AAV for passenger transportation. It had a full-scale mockup of the four seat version on display at the 2018 World Economic Forum. The company has since published a short video showing a successful flight test.

Using Vimana's blockchain technology, the company believes it will be able to offer an alternative to Uber's proposed Uber Air operating model.

Outlook

Our objective assessment of this program’s probable success.

FutureFlight assesses the probability of success for a new aircraft program by considering the following criteria:

  • Total investment funds available in proportion to the anticipated cost of getting an aircraft certified and in service
  • A company’s in-house capability (in terms of numbers of engineers, technical staff, and customer support teams)
  • The past experience of the company and its senior leadership in developing aircraft
  • The caliber and past experience of key program partners
  • Whether key aircraft systems have been selected and are available for use
  • Whether the preliminary design review has been completed
  • Whether the design for the full-scale prototype has been completed
  • Whether the type certification process has been formally initiated with an appropriate regulator
  • Whether the company has achieved a first flight with a full-scale prototype
  • The number of hours logged in a flight test program
  • Whether type certification has been achieved
  • The number of orders and commitment received for the aircraft
  • Whether the company has adequate facilities to begin series production of the aircraft
Our Methodology

As of May 2020, Vimana Global had yet to publish and timeline or plan for getting its proposed Autonomous Aerial Vehicle family into service.

Vimana Autonomous Aerial Vehicle Models

Vimana AAV 4-Seat Specifications

autonomous vtol Tiltrotor

Performance

  • Passenger Capacity
    4
  • Range
    550 mi
  • Cruise Speed
    152 mph
  • Powerplant Type
    multi rotor
  • Power Source
    hybrid_fe
  • Endurance
    n/a
  • Max Altitude
    9,843 ft
  • Takeoff Distance
    n/a
  • Landing Distance
    n/a
  • Empty Weight
    n/a
  • MGTOW
    2,300 lb
  • Payload Weight
    900 lb

Dimensions

  • Length
    23 ft
  • Width
    n/a
  • Height
    n/a
  • Wingspan
    33 ft

The Vimana AAV eVTOL features eight rotors, with four mounted on each wing. The wings rotate to facilitate vertical takeoff and landing and accelerated forward flight. The 200-kw hybrid electric propulsion system features eight 60-kw thrusters.

Key Personnel

Evgeni Borisov
Evgeni Borisov

Founder