GabyFranky Zapata is a French inventor and pilot best known for his extreme feats on a high-speed flyboard. He has announced an amazing hybrid electric aircraft (eVTOL). This flying machine will be used alongside his jet-powered flying lounge chair.
Franky Zapata and his previous developments
Zapata’s list of innovations is extraordinary. The former French jet ski champion is known for inventing the flyboard by attaching several water pipes, ankle straps, and wrist straps to the back of a jet ski. This allowed people to rise out of the water and perform enough tricks to establish a new sport – flyboarding.
By 2016, a new generation of compact, powerful jet turbines had emerged. Zapata spent little time mounting several of them on a compact platform with attached boots, then filled the backpack’s fuel tank with kerosene and took off into the air unanchored. This is how the flyboard was created, surpassing the capabilities of a jet ski.
Franky Zapata has firmly established himself among the new pantheon of pioneers in personal jet engine flights. He has performed at stunning demonstration events around the world, gaining fame for racing a Lamborghini around the Utah desert at speeds exceeding 160 km/h and being the first in the world to cross the English Channel on a jet-powered flyboard.
The inventor founded his own company, Zapata, which continued to produce new innovations. These include the Zapata EZfly, which provides the flyboard with a pair of handles and allows inexperienced pilots to take to the air, and the Zapata FlyRide, which resembles a two-seater “pedal boat.”
Recently introduced is the JetRacer – a flying lounge chair powered by 10 small jet turbines, capable of reaching speeds of up to 250 km/h and ascending to heights of 3000 m with a person on board or carrying a load of up to 200 kg under remote control.
What does the prototype of the aeroskuter look like? Zapata ?
Everything mentioned above has been built and is capable of flying, and some innovations have even gone into mass production. Now, Zapata is branching out into a completely different form of personal flight based on the “buy and fly” principle.
The Airscooter Zapata was introduced as a prototype at the Viva Technology exhibition in Paris in June. It features an egg-shaped cabin on legs, which can accommodate only one pilot. Above it are 8 carbon poles, 4 of which are longer and diagonal, housing something resembling 2 electric propellers with a diameter of less than 1 meter.
Two rear diagonals are connected by a spoiler wing positioned at an angle. This is intended to provide some lift when this hybrid aircraft in the style of a multicopter is tilted forward and moving at speed. The Zapata aeroboat is designed to travel at a speed of 80 km/h and a maximum speed of approximately 100 km/h.
At the shorter northern, southern, eastern, and western poles, there are almost twice as many screws. Mr. Zapata promises over 2 hours of endurance on this aircraft thanks to its hybrid power system.
How a hybrid electric aircraft will work Zapata ?
Most hybrid eVTOL aircraft operate with a single central generator engine, often a small gas turbine, which serves as a range extender that continuously charges the battery during flight. However, as noted by the publication Newatlas In the case of the new Zapata device, everything is different. Instead, it seems that the four large supports are powered by four separate engines installed directly beneath them at the ends of the columns, and they are supplied through lines running along the tops of the columns.
The detail protruding from the side of the power unit closely resembles the end of a small JetCat-style helicopter turbine. As is known, Zapata is collaborating with the French aerospace laboratory and defense agency to develop its own turbine engines. Perhaps this is it.
It seems that it is he who drives the gear pair in the lower part, connected through a similar gear pair in the upper part, which provides torque for the screw. It can also be assumed that somewhere beneath all this there is an electric motor as well.
If this is the case, then these 4 large screws likely exist primarily to provide volumetric thrust. Therefore, they will rotate relatively slowly – although possibly with some electrical power – during the turbine’s rotation.
Eight smaller, fully electric actuators will respond much faster to input power. Therefore, it can be assumed that Zapata plans to use them to balance the aircraft in flight, responding to incoming control signals as well as stabilization commands from the control unit, which will allow for the stabilization of this hybrid aircraft during wind-induced oscillations.
Advantages and disadvantages of the air scooter. Zapata
The advantages of such an aircraft will include a long service life and the absence of a large, heavy battery. The plane has multiple propellers, so it can be assumed that it can be safely landed if one or two turbines fail.
On the other hand, the drawbacks are quite significant. These small turbines, if they are indeed such, can be incredibly loud. Therefore, it is hard to claim that flying on this hybrid aircraft will definitely be as pleasant a journey as on a fully electric VTOL.
Another drawback is maintenance. JetCat charges at least $300 for every 25 hours of servicing small helicopter turbines. In the Zapata aeroboat, they will be larger and more powerful. And, of course, there is an increased risk of mechanical failure compared to reliable electric motors, although Mr. Zapata and others regularly trust their lives to these small turbines.
However, the AirScooter, weighing only 115 kg, is considered an ultralight aircraft, so it does not require a pilot’s license to fly in the USA. With its wired flight controller and numerous safety sensors, it will be just as easy to operate as a drone.
Mr. Zapata has not yet announced when this aeroboard will be available, whether the prototype is flying, or how much it might cost to purchase. However, these details will likely become clearer over time.
