Horizon Aircraft targets gap in the market with hybrid flying taxi

Hype for eVTOLs, often known as flying taxis, has waxed and waned over the last decade. New designs and prototypes generate huge excitement before the reality of testing, certification and regulation sets in, dragging out projects and pushing commercial flight further and further back.

The hype train was in full force at the Paris Air Show in June however, with companies such as Archer Aviation and EHang showcasing their aircraft, and Eve Air Mobility securing an order for 54 units. Those firms, like most in the field, are pure electric. But Canadian start-up Horizon is taking a different approach, which it hopes could secure a sizeable chunk of the market. 

“We saw a decent gap in the marketplace opening up for a longer-range, all-weather, faster machine that could carry more and had several other layers of safety and redundancy on board,” said CEO and co-founder Brandon Robinson to Professional Engineering. “We thought it was smart to have a power source on board that is 30 to 40 times as dense as even the best aerospace-grade batteries.” 

For the Cavorite X7, that power source will be jet fuel or potentially sustainable aviation fuel in future. With 800km (500 miles) forecast range and a maximum speed of 450km/h (280mph), the six-passenger, one-pilot aircraft could fly much further than pure electric eVTOLs and much faster than helicopters.

The hybrid approach is not the only unusual feature of the X7 – unlike other flying taxis it has fixed wings, lined with battery-powered ducted fans. These will be uncovered for electrically powered ascent and descent before the aircraft switches to a fossil-fuelled rear propeller for horizontal flight, and the ducted fans are covered by sliding panels.

Stressing a “very operational and engineering-focused background”, Robinson said the company was wary of the challenges and strict manufacturing tolerances involved with tilt rotors, tilt wing mechanisms and open rotors. 

“We wanted the simplest possible way to transition from hover to forward flight,” he said. The approach avoids significant aerodynamics challenges from variable pitch articulating mechanisms, he added, with a half-scale prototype already demonstrating successful transitions between hovering and horizontal flight.

The X7’s performance advantages could draw attention in the next eVTOL hype cycle – but it remains to be seen if they will be significant enough for customers to overlook ongoing fossil fuel consumption.