Following its initial unveiling in January, Supernal’s SA-2 electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicle is on display this week at Farnborough International Airshow.
Designed to cruise at 120 miles per hour at altitudes between 1,000 and 1,500 feet above ground, the S-A2 will have an initial range of 60 miles to meet typical city operation needs. Using a distributed electric propulsion architecture the eVTOL will operate quietly and is engineered to achieve global commercial aviation activity safety standards with its robust framework including redundant components in critical systems such as powertrain, flight controls and avionics.
Seeaking at the airshow, Supernal’s CEO and President of Hyundai Motor Group Jaiwon Shin, said: “We are eager to share Supernal’s lates product milestone – our eVTOL product concept – with the aviation industry as we work to launch to commercial Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) operations in 2028.”
The company is working with stakeholders including fleet operators, suppliers, governments and Hyundai Motor Group to achieve its goal. Prototype testing of S-A2 is expected in 2025 with a full-scale technology demonstrator expected to fly before then.
Monday 22 July saw Supernal announce that GKN had successfully delivered the full composite wing assembly for the technology demonstrator with booms being delivered by the end of the month.
“2024 is a pivotal year for Supernal’s eVTOL development, marking the transition from engineering design to the build and execution phases,” said David McBride CTO, Supernal. “In addition to gaining instrumental learnings from our full-scale technology demonstrator, we will also begin prototype development and continue refining our production vehicle for scaled manufacturing in the coming months.”
