The Bell Aircraft Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Textron, has joined the Canadian Advanced Air Mobility Consortium (CAAM), to assist the country become a global leader in Advanced Air Mobility (AAM), reports a company press release. The partnership was Announced Oct. 28.
This multi-stakeholder group created by the Canadian Air Mobility and National Research Council of Canada (NRC) will streamline research, development and commercial operations in the AAM sector.
Bell’s Innovation teams are presently developing and testing the Autonomous Pod Transport (APT), a tail-sitting, eVTOL vehicle capable of moving 70 lbs of goods through autonomous flight. It is being developed at the Bell Textron Canada facility in Mirabel, Quebec.
The aim is to create a new on-demand delivery solution for consumers, the military and medical personnel. The release says, “In collaboration with NASA, APT recently flew a pre-programmed 10-mile circuit path in Fort Worth through complex air space, collecting detect and avoid data while demonstrating its beyond visible line of sight flight capabilities.”
The innovation team in Mirabel also played a key role in testing the rotating ducts for the Bell Nexus 4EX, showcased at CES 2020. The release goes on to say, “Bell is paving the way for innovation like APT entails close collaboration and an open conversation about the associated infrastructure, regulatory, operational and technology needs. Through these partnerships, Bell moves closer to redefining mobility and bringing advanced vertical lift solutions to urban regions, like Vancouver.”
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