By Chris Stonor
Robbie Irons, CEO of Pegasus Universal Aerospace, says the company’s debut of its hybrid propulsion system vertical takeoff business jet (VBJ) has received “a resounding response from the global market”, reports transportup.com.
Irons states that inquiries have come from countries and clients around the world to use the VBJ for purposes including business transport, border control, policing, oil and gas and cargo applications. Presently, Pegasus is focusing on the corporate applications for the VBJ, with its main goal being to achieve FAA/EASA certification.
While the VBJ is still only in the concept validation and prototype build phase, with simulation results being validated through scale model testing, according to Irons, the scale model prototype has “achieved perfect stability and offers Pegasus confidence that with a custom controller and the increase in power to weight ratio when scaling the aircraft up to quarter scale, stability will be achieved successfully”.
If funding and development milestones are reached without difficulty, Pegasus expects the VBJ to attain certification no later than 2027. Irons commented, “Our biggest focus is to secure our strategic funding partner for Pegasus by the end of 2020 as it will ultimately determine the pace at which the VBJ development programme moves forward.”
Pegasus is working with several OEMs including Epsilon Engineering to aid with the complex development process. Irons continued, “The Pegasus VBJ provides a hybrid propulsion solution and although we address all the performance capabilities of the eVTOL sector, we offer substantially more.”
He went on to say, “The VBJ falls into the VTOL segment with a maximum takeoff weight of 5700 kg (Part 23 & Part 29 certification), serving longer range needs, offering more passengers onboard, single pilot operation with dual pilot capability, higher airspeeds, and higher altitudes with multiple enhanced safety and redundancy measures in accessing heliports, helipads and conventional runways.”
Despite the Covid-19 pandemic and its impact on the aviation industry, Pegasus remains on track and says it is negotiating with various high-level investors and OEMs to support and participate in the aircraft’s development. The interest is largely due to its unique Vertical Business Jet design.
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For more information
https://pegasusua.com/pegasus-vertical-business-jet-2/
(News Source: https://transportup.com)
