If this sounds foreign to you, that’s because this finally becoming possible, thanks to advancements in structural design, propulsion systems, materials, sensors, artificial intelligence (AI), batteries and high-speed connectivity, which have dramatically enhanced energy efficiency, acoustics, emissions, safety and autonomy, making a broad range of electrically powered vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) capable aircraft feasible and transitioning aviation into a new era.
Xeriant, short for “eXperimental Electric vaRIANT”, plans to enable point-to-point on demand and scheduled short-haul flights in congested urban environments, called urban air mobility (UAM), by acquiring, developing, and commercializing revolutionary, eco-friendly aircraft concepts.
Halo’s innovative VTOL platform is an aeronautical engineering breakthrough that enables a seamless transition from vertical to forward flight and represents one of the most effective lift fan systems ever designed, with implications for the UAV industry and the future of air transportation in general. Whereas ducted fan VTOL aircraft have struggled, since the 1950’s, to achieve a smooth transition between hover and level cruise flight modes, due to aerodynamic drag from asymmetric airflows and pressure differentials across the ring-wing duct opening at high angles of attack or in crosswinds, causing pitching and reduced forward speed.
Among Halo’s unique design features are its ducted fan propulsion, a central cockpit compartment or fuselage, and a load-sharing axle which bridges the annular wing and fuselage. Lift produced by the airfoil wing structure will equal or exceed lift generated from the impellers in forward flight.
Halo is a scalable system that may be configured for different sizes depending on the application, from a small frame UAV to potentially a large frame, piloted heavy lift or passenger transport aircraft. Its central payload section can take any number of shapes including spherical, oval or even teardrop, which approximates an airfoil with the characteristics of a lifting body.
The payload compartment, either fixed or pivotally mounted on the axle, maintains a generally upright orientation under normal operating parameters through an altitude control system using gyro-assisted stabilization technology, and through weight distribution, by positioning its center of gravity or balancing point generally in the lower half.
Halo aircraft are designed to achieve optimal safety, reliability and efficiency while matching or exceeding performance levels of existing VTOL aircraft in terms of range, maneuverability, logistical footprint, payload, ceiling, operational flexibility and speed.
Xeriant will introduce the Alpha platform to the civilian aviation market as a small-scale VTOL UAV (or drone), which is currently in development.
A larger scale, optionally piloted version of its Alpha UAV model, will be designed to address the anticipated urban air taxi market, rapid cargo delivery services and personal flying vehicles.
Its futuristic design, unlike any existing UAV configuration, as well as superior safety and operating capabilities, should strongly position Halo within the high-performance commercial UAV market segment.
Designed for speed, stealth, payload capacity, endurance (loiter) and extended range, Manta is envisioned to ultimately become part of the DOD’s arsenal, enhancing its aerial capabilities in support of operational, strategic or tactical objectives. Halo’s airfoil shaped fuselage or payload compartment offers less drag and a reduced radar profile. Initially, Manta will be developed as a medium to long range VTOL UAV for specific ISR, target acquisition, communications and/or attack missions, most likely in close coordination with the U.S. military, including DARPA, and integrated within existing defensive and offensive support operations.
Halo inherently has low infrared emissions a low acoustic and vibration signature with internally housed propulsion systems and ducted impellers and can reduce its radar profile through the use of radar-absorbing materials and IR-suppression techniques. Halo’s amphibious variant, with VTOL on water, adds another dimension to its military uses.
Halo personnel and heavy lift cargo transport aircraft can be designed to deliver troops, equipment and supplies or for insertion/extraction pararescue (PJ) operations.
Xeriant (XERI) is taking off and with Morgan Stanley forecasting that the autonomous urban aircraft market will grow to $1.5 trillion, by 2040, this is a flight that you want to catch.
Another reason to love XERI is its plans to redefine the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) and drone spaces. Plus, its proven management team has identified multiple opportunities and they plan on going on a feeding frenzy, expanding their technological and industry footprint, by smartly rolling up companies that are positioned to excel in the current aviation industry climate.
Xeriant intends to acquire strategic interests in the most promising of these technological breakthroughs and next-generation aircraft configurations, leveraging the synergies and collective expertise of its growing international network of industry partnerships to accelerate the development of economically viable products that address specific market demands.
The team is headed by Keith F. Duffy, who, as CEO, founded and led two companies, a software development company and a biotech company, that is now trading on NASDAQ.
Despite this CEO’s eye-popping success, over the years, most investors have yet to even hear this company’s name!
Did you miss the affordable Tesla IPO shares, because you wanted to wait until they perfected their technology and become profitable? If you would have bought TSLA, and held through the duration, you could have turned a small investment into a whopping pile of cash.
If Duffy knocks it out of the park, again, early discoverers, like you, may see life-changing investment returns.
That’s right, if you act now, you can stake your claim while this small company is still flying under the radar.
Xeriant’s team is much deeper than CEO Duffy; it includes amazing aviation and business minds, as well as a holding company structure that will enable the Company to grow rapidly and acquire assets in a number of entities at various stages of maturity, including well-established revenue-generating enterprises, through strategic investments and licensing arrangements. In fact, it’s already in negotiations with several targeted technologies.
This time, management will be working the very fertile fields of civilian and military air transport, as rapid advances in technology enable more and more capability to be placed on smaller airframes, creating more potential situations for their deployment.
UAVs have already proven to be vital to the military, due to their multiple advantages, the most obvious of which is reducing casualties in high risk battlefield environments, but their roles continue to expand from munitions delivery and electronic intelligence to areas including electronic attack, bomb detection, communications, combat search and rescue, and logistics.
What most people know about drones is from watching our hobbyist neighbors flying their drones around the neighborhood, but drones are generating a ton of industry buzz, because most businesses and governments are just entering mass adoption phase.
And the crisis seems to be expediting the significant growth outlook, as, according to the Drones in the Global Power and Utilities Industry, Forecast to 2030 report, “Drones or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are currently finding application opportunities across various commercial businesses and are poised to impact multiple industry verticals in various capacities. Drone applications are emerging in various sectors such as agriculture, mining, oil and gas (O&G), construction, utilities and safety & security.”
Drones are already a key tool in various military, security and agriculture applications, but the upcoming commercial uses will soon blow our minds.
Yes, it not just Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) and Northrop Grunman (NYSE:NOC) looking to bank on the drone industry, as household names, ranging from Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) to Sony (SNE) to GoPro (NASDAQ:GPRO) and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) are making their moves.
Of course, just mentioning some of those companies is probably enough to get the investment bankers worked up, but there’s a lot more to this space and Duffy is looking to stake his claim.
Investment in this industry is growing significantly, as investment funds, big technology firms and wealthy individuals plow into this sector.
The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) reported that air domain only projects account for over $5 billion in FY20, or 61% of the overall funding request for unmanned systems. DOD is looking specifically at UAVs that can improve the situational awareness of small units and perform complex missions in urban environments, such as reconnoitering a building, the bulk of which will be smaller, lighter, and more agile aircraft.
The futuristic idea of on demand air taxis or “flying cars,” depicted in science fiction, is fast becoming a reality due to technological advancements in VTOL aircraft design, power systems, AI and fly-by-wire automation.
A series of rough, functioning UAV prototypes were built as part of the early development process of the Halo platform, to gain an understanding of the structural and mechanical issues and for “proof of concept” demonstrations, to establish the foundational validity of the Halo platform. The design of these early stage Halo UAV prototypes was generally consistent with the patent application filing and drawings, and featured the main elements, such as the payload compartment, central axle, ring wing and impeller powered with remotely controlled battery powered motors and a gear drive system.
Electric aircraft are being considered for regional routes, flights generally less than 500 miles between smaller regional airports, which account for nearly half of all global flights and will soon be within the range of most proposed electrically powered aircraft.
The federal government maintains about 3,000 general aviation airports that have no scheduled passenger flights, but can be developed for point-to-point electrically powered aircraft service.
Stakeholders shaping this integration process include aircraft manufacturers, ridesharing companies, governmental regulatory agencies and civil transportation authorities, all of whom are working toward establishing standards and overcoming the multitude of issues involved with its implementation.
Helicopters have performance limitations based on their fundamental flight principles. Due to a condition called retreating blade stall, also known as dissymmetry of lift, helicopters have a maximum forward speed of about 250 miles per hour. They also produce high noise levels, due primarily to rotor blade vortex interaction and vibration.
With the United Nations’ International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) projecting aviation emissions to roughly triple by 2050, it’s no surprise that the Advisory Council for Aeronautics Research in Europe has set goals of a 75% reduction in CO2 emissions per passenger and a 65 percent reduction, or that, according to Proponent, the aerospace industry spends about $15 billion each year on sustainability and efficiency related research and development.
UAM, or on-demand aviation, is an emerging segment of the aviation industry that, generally, refers to point-to-point passenger and cargo flights in congested urban areas using advanced electrically powered aircraft capable of vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL).
A key feature of UAM which is integral to the aircraft’s design requirements is minimizing environmental impact through low noise levels, clean emissions and a reduced logistical footprint.
When asked about air taxis, in a Bloomberg News interview, Dennis Muilenburg, Boeing CEO, stated, “I think it will happen faster than any of us understand.”
While UAVs were originally designed to reduce casualties and replace more expensive air support systems in the military, they have also become a more cost effective and safer option in a variety of business applications.
UAM, or on-demand aviation, is an emerging segment of the aviation industry that, generally, refers to point-to-point passenger and cargo flights in congested urban areas using advanced electrically powered aircraft capable of vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL).
A key feature of UAM which is integral to the aircraft’s design requirements is minimizing environmental impact through low noise levels, clean emissions and a reduced logistical footprint.
When asked about air taxis, in a Bloomberg News interview, Dennis Muilenburg, Boeing CEO, stated, “I think it will happen faster than any of us understand.”
“Goldman Sachs estimates an air taxi market would be valued at $70 billion annually”, by 2035
While UAVs were originally designed to reduce casualties and replace more expensive air support systems in the military, they have also become a more cost effective and safer option in a variety of business applications.
Headquartered in Shenzhen, China DJI is the world’s leading manufacturer of drones for aerial photography and accounts for over 70% of the global drone market. Founded in 2006 in founder Frank Wang’s university dorm room, the copany now has over 14,000 employees and 17 offices worldwide.
“We expect to see an increasing number of investments into drone delivery companies, as the market not only grows in terms of companies and solutions but also matures in terms of scale of operations, certification and sophistication of solutions available. With the recent Part 135 approvals given to Wing and UPS Flight Forward, and other regulatory milestones across the globe this space will grow significantly this year.”
The FAA approved several drone delivery operations, including Alphabet’s (GOOGL) Google Wing and, more recently, Amazon’s Prime Air drones, which CNBC reported that Amazon will move forward with a trial to deliver goods “beyond the visual line of sight of the operator.”
After U.S. drone registrations surpassed 1 million in 2018, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) registrations to more than double to 2.4 million last year. Teal Group projects that the world civil drone market will triple over the next decade with the commercial segment increasing six-fold, to $9.5 billion in annual sales by 2028.
While the hobbyists are typically into joyriding, photography and racing, the professional uses include wildfire monitoring, construction, insurance, communications, delivery, film making, agriculture, conservation, search and rescue, energy infrastructure, mapping, Collision Avoidance Systems, traffic control, precision farming, archaeology, and environmental works.
On the military front, the Center for Study of the Drone at Bard College reports the U.S. Department of Defense fiscal 2019 budget request called for $9.39 billion for unmanned aircraft systems, up from $7.5 billion in 2018. This growth is expected to continue as a way to limit pilot casualties.
The green rush is finally evolving, so that improved eco-friendly technologies are becoming easier to implement. Battery and electric vehicle progress is accelerating, making Air Taxis the natural next step in the evolutionary chain.
