You are probably half-expecting the Fraundorfer Aeronautics Tensor 600X STOL Gyroplane to be an all-electric aircraft. Well, it is not, which is a surprise given how electric drive is all the rage in recent years. The Tensor 600X is a good’ol fossil fuel burner.
However, Fraundorfer Aeronautics Tensor 600X STOL Gyroplane‘s design can be easily adapted to battery-electric or hydrogen fuel cell, said Fraundorfer Aeronautics. That would be in the future.
The company did not say when clean energy Tensor 600X would happen. I am guessing there is no hurry as the aerospace company said the 600X is “already about twice as efficient as a helicopter and significantly quieter.”
While the Tensor 600X gyroplane unveiled at the recent European Rotors show is a two-seater, Fraundorfer said it will soon scale it up to a certified six-seater for it to serve as an air taxi.
Well, about that… I don’t know man. Part of the reason why rotary aircraft has been considered as a short-range urban transport is the advancement of electric power which will not contribute to the pollution while serving to alleviate a city’s congested traffic.
So, a fossil fuel air taxi does not seem like serving all the goals. Then there’s the question of the runway which the Tensor 600X required.
Unlike The Cavalon, which is a gyrocopter that has been on sale in Germany for a number of years now, the Tensor 600X is a gyroplane that requires some length of runaways to take and land (90 meters or 300 feet and 20 meters or 70 feet, respectively). So, it is definitely not suited as an intercity personal air transport. It feels more like it would be more of a hobbyist thing first.
However, it should be appropriate for other purposes it pitched, including as a surveillance aircraft and well, general transport.
Images: Fraundorfer Aeronautics.
via New Atlas.