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Supply chains don’t run on their own. At least not yet.
San Francisco Bay Area-based MightyFly on Friday unveiled the 2024 Cento, a self-driving third-generation electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) cargo aircraft ready for same-day delivery. The announcement comes nearly a year after the company unveiled its second-generation design.
Like a delivery van, the Cento arrives at a distribution center, picks up a package, flies to the destination, unloads the package, and leaves for the next delivery. All these operations are automated and monitored remotely from a command center. The aircraft is designed to carry up to 100 pounds of cargo over 600 square meters (521 nautical miles) while cruising at 150 miles per hour (130 knots).
MightyFly also announced that it has received a special airworthiness certificate and certificate of clearance from the FAA to establish an air corridor between California Byron Airport (C83) and New Jerusalem Airport (Q1) up to 5,000 feet above sea level. . It plans to begin flight tests along this route in the coming months.
The 2024 Cento launch event at MightyFly’s San Leandro, California headquarters featured a demonstration of the fixed aircraft in front of a large audience of partners, investors, potential customers, and even government representatives.
“MightyFly’s new eVTOL will revolutionize industries such as manufacturing, retail, and healthcare, and change lives in rural and remote areas,” said Manal Habib, co-founder and CEO of MightyFly. said. “All of us at MightyFly are extremely excited to be working at the forefront of this new era of automation and innovation.”
specification
According to MightyFly, the biggest advantage of the new design is its ability to accommodate a wide range of payload centers of gravity. For example, basketball hoops are usually difficult to carry due to their odd shape and weight distribution. However, Cento can accommodate a variety of cargo contents, densities, loading sequences, and fixed locations.
“This design characteristic is expected to be a key technology differentiator for the Cento platform, and its utility will make it highly valuable and competitive in the market,” MightyFly said in a news release. mentioned in.
The 2024 Cento also introduces a significantly larger cargo area than its predecessor. MightyFly has optimized the cargo area to hold as much cargo as possible while maintaining the aircraft’s 100-pound weight capacity.
The company says this will open up use cases in logistics, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, retail, automotive, and oil and gas. eVTOLs can also be used for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, or deployed for defense and supply missions. It can also carry refrigerated boxes, which are often used in the medical industry to transport organ donors and blood bags.
Third-generation designs can fly autonomously and load and unload packages autonomously. MightyFly’s Autonomous Load Mastering System (ALMS) opens and closes cargo doors, secures cargo in and out of the cargo hold, and senses payload weight and balance to determine center of gravity. You can also. All of this minimizes the need for ground support in Cento operations.
The company is collaborating with Agility Prime, the Vertical Lift Division of the U.S. Air Force’s Innovation Division AFWERX, and Air Mobility Command to further develop ALMS, potentially identifying some Air Force use cases in the process. there is.
Other features of the upgraded model include:
- Bi-wing design allows for significant trim of the aircraft’s center of lift
- Structural conductors reduce weight and improve reliability
- Composite structure to improve load capacity
- Use canards in landing gear to reduce drag and increase efficiency
MightyFly completed production of the third-generation Cento this month and will soon begin qualification testing of the aircraft, continuing the test program of its predecessor. It also plans to begin A-to-B test flights between Byron and New Jerusalem airports, during which the eVTOL will be integrated with GA aircraft. Next step: A to B customer flight demonstration.
That first service could take place in the fall, when the company plans to publicly debut point-to-point automated freight delivery in Michigan. The state signed a flight contract with Mightyfly last year, and the company is reportedly in talks with potential business partners to expand into the region.
Michigan also recently poured $7 million into a drone park at the 97-year-old Battle Creek Executive Airport (KBTL). The site, which will host drones in addition to eVTOL aircraft, is being touted as Michigan’s Silicon Valley and is expected to one day lead the emerging advanced air mobility (AAM) industry.
MightyFly is also scheduled to demonstrate automated cargo loading, unloading, and balancing for the Air Force in 2025, with additional proof-of-concept programs to follow.
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