The Rotor X Aircraft Manufacturing Company (RX) has announced that they are entering the electric Air Taxi market with their revolutionary world’s most efficient helicopter, called the RX eTransporter. According to the company, its patent-pending RX eTransporter design is “dramatically more efficient and less expensive than all other eVTOL concepts being proposed or developed today.”
The RX eTransporter is a simple 4-rotor (or quad-rotor) helicopter and is suitable for both civilian and industrial use. Its helicopter-like cabin can seat up to six passengers and carry up to 1,600 lb (726 kg) of cargo. Instead of relying on a large wing to make the aircraft more efficient after takeoff, the RX eTransporter uses a T-tail and smaller top wing that only enhances the natural lift of this helicopter.
The eVTOL Air Taxi can take off and land vertically and fly for over 1.5 hours or hover on the spot for more than 45 minutes on a single charge. Rotor X says the RX eTransporter’s outstanding hovering capability makes it ideal for commercial cargo and personnel flights immediately after completing FAA airworthiness testing next year.
At a maximum cruise speed of 140 mph (225 km/h), with a maximum speed of over 160 mph (257 km/h) and utilizing its wing for even more energy conservation, the aircraft would fly over 200 miles (322 km/h) on one charge. The company is claiming a max range of up to 230 miles (370 km) running on battery power. On military missions, an additional 50 miles (80 km) of range can be achieved.
Its open-interior version is ideal for air taxi operations, package delivery, search and rescue, personnel recovery, and MEDEVAC operations. Besides, the heavy-lift RX eTransporter, which can be made in a pilot-optional version and still carry over a ton of cargo, would be a game-changer for the mining industry.
Through a partnership with Advanced Tactics Inc (AT), Rotor X Aircraft Manufacturing Company (RX) will make civilian versions of the aircraft being developed for the U.S. Air Force. The RX eTransporter will start testing in Alaska as an experimental aircraft during the summer of 2022. It is seeking FAA airworthiness certification later this year and plans to have the first flight in the Fall of 2021 with expected commercial FAA air taxi certification by the Fall of 2024.
