Training company CAE is to work with Jaunt Air Mobility to speed up the design and development of the Jaunt Journey eVTOL.
It follows an announcement last week by Jaunt Air that it intended to move its design and manufacturing operations to Canada, appointing Eric Côté to head its Jaunt Air Canada. CAE is also based in Canada.
“Our announcement to locate our design and manufacturing operations to Canada aligns with our certification path and commercialization strategy,” said Martin Peryea, CEO of Jaunt Air Mobility.
“Canada and Québec offer a wide range of opportunities stemming from a long history in the aerospace industry, including an experienced workforce and global suppliers. Canada is a global leader in developing and promoting clean technology and this is aligned with our core values.”
Certification plans for the Jaunt Journey are set to begin in 2023 and culminate in 2026 with entry-in-service (EIS) expected in early 2027.
As part of the agreement, CAE and Jaunt Air Mobility intend to build an engineering simulator which will accelerate cockpit design and system development, and will reduce the airworthiness flight test time.
CAE’s Nick Leontidis said, “As a high-technology solutions company at the leading edge of digital immersion, CAE is uniquely qualified to provide engineering and certification support solutions to help innovative companies such as Jaunt Air Mobility certify their aircraft. Jaunt shares our passion for enabling the next generation of electric aviation and together we look forward to advancing this new industry.”
The Journey aircraft is designed to deliver safe, efficient, and reliable performance while reducing carbon emissions. The Jaunt Journey combines the performance of an airplane with the vertical take-off and landing efficiency of a helicopter to meet the growing demands for faster travel times over urban and regional areas.
Jaunt is also working with VerdeGo Aero of Daytona Beach, Florida to explore the development of a hybrid-electric aircraft.
Jaunt and VerdeGo plan to develop a hybrid-electric version of the Jaunt aircraft utilising VerdeGo’s hybrid-electric diesel (Jet-A) generator system combined with same battery systems being used for the Jaunt Journey. The added energy from the hybrid system will enable significant enhancements to mission capability for passenger, cargo, and military variants.
“While confident in the battery-electric Jaunt Journey, for the urban air mobility market, our customers also have different operational mission requirements,” said Peryea. “VerdeGo’s system offers a unique bridge to meeting those demands.”
According to NASA, Hybrid-electric architectures have shown the potential for significant improvements when applied to fixed-wing aircraft.
That concurs with what the U.S. Air Force’s chief acquisition officer, Will Roper thinks. He’s said the military’s goals of flying two to four military personnel 100 miles at speeds above 115mph mean it is likely that these aircraft will be hybrid-electric.