COMMUTERS could be catching a taxi in the sky from the Sunshine Coast to Brisbane by 2030, if a new student project goes to plan.
Experts, industry leaders, high school and university students have joined forces at the University of the Sunshine Coast, to take their ideas for an electric vertical take-off and landing vehicle (eVTOL) sky high.
The goal is to have it flying for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Aeronautical engineer and UniSC Special Projects Lead, Tim Kelly, said similar concepts were already being developed around the world, but this design featured a new approach to vertical take-off and landing. “The concept leverages some well-understood existing platforms, and in simplified terms can be thought of as a combination between a very large quadcopter drone and a canard configuration general aviation aircraft,” Mr Kelly said.
“You would summon a ride to your nearest VTOL port and it would fly you to your destination at around 250 kilometres per hour. That’s quick enough to get from Maroochydore CBD to Brisbane CBD in under 30 minutes,” he said.
While the vehicle will initially be remotely piloted, the plan is to make it completely autonomous, with smaller models offering potential for surveillance, freight or firefighting.