Bell Nexus

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Bell Nexus
Type: Convertible plane
Design country:

United StatesUnited States United States

Manufacturer:

Bell

First flight:

Project

The Bell Nexus is the project of a vertical takeoff tiltrotor - convertible aircraft of the US manufacturer Bell suitable for use as autonomous air taxi is provided. The project was presented to the public on January 7, 2019 in the form of a full-scale mock-up at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas .

history

The Nexus is being developed under the direction of Bell by a consortium made up of EPS , Garmin , Moog , Safran and Thales . Bell has overall management for conception, development and production. The drive and systems for power transmission come from Safran, while EPS provides the energy storage systems. Thales develops the hardware and software for the flight control computers . Moog is responsible for the actuators of the control devices and Garmin will integrate the avionics and the computers for vehicle control.

In addition to the presentation in Las Vegas, a full-size model of the Nexus 2019 was also shown at the Heli-Expo in Atlanta , Georgia .

construction

The Nexus has six tiltable, driven by a hybrid-electric system (HEPS) ducted propeller . The casing contributes to safety and noise reduction. The HEPS supplied by Safran should be able to provide an output of over 600 kWe for the six electric motors. The HEPS consists of a subsystem that uses a gas turbine that drives a generator to generate electrical energy and store it in batteries. A "distribution core" ensures that the electrical power is distributed to the rotors depending on the flight condition. It is considered to steer the Nexus completely autonomously and to do without the pilot. This would increase the payload by 25 percent and improve profitability.

Technical specifications

The technical data are from the development phase April 2017.

Parameter Data
crew 1 pilot / autonomous flying
Passengers 4th
Max. Takeoff mass 2720 ​​kg
span 2.40 m
payload 450 kg
Cruising speed 280 km / h
Top speed 288 km / h
Range 241 km
Rotors 6 ducted propellers, 3 each axially symmetrical,

Diameter each 2.44 m

Engines 1 × wave turbine as generator drive, 6 × electric motors

use

In the mid-2020s, the Nexus should be available from Uber as an air taxi. Not the aircraft, but the flight is sold. Since 2017, Bell has been one of the first flight equipment manufacturers to work with Uber.

literature

  • Nigel Pittaway: Bell Helicopter unveils Nexus air taxi . In: AIR International March 2019, p. 92 f.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Bell Nexus. Electric VTOL News, accessed April 4, 2019 .
  2. Cora Werwitzke: Bell introduces hybrid-electric VTOL called Nexus. electrive.net Industry service for electromobility, January 9, 2019, accessed on April 4, 2019 .
  3. Volker K. Thomalla : Bell presented Air Taxi Bell Nexus at the Heli-Expo 2019. In: aerobuzz.de. AEROBUZZ.DE, March 19, 2019, accessed December 8, 2019 .
  4. Saffron is proud to power the Bell Nexus. aviationbenefits, January 7, 2019, accessed April 4, 2019 .
  5. Bell unveils Nexus air taxi (schematic diagram of the drive). aircosmosinternational, accessed on April 4, 2019 .
  6. a b c Patrick Zwergera: Air taxi from Bell - With Nexus through the city traffic of the future. In: Flugrevue.de. Flugrevue, January 8, 2019, accessed December 8, 2019 .
  7. ^ Nexus, Nexus, Bell, Fort Worth, Texas, USA. In: evtol.news. Electric VTOL News, accessed December 8, 2019 .
  8. Bell Reveals Its 5-Seat Nexus Air Taxi At CES Las Vegas , accessed December 17, 2019
  9. ^ Andrew J. Hawkins: Bell's hybrid-electric flying car will be available via Uber by the 'mid-2020s' - From the makers of the V-22 Osprey. In: theverge.com. THE VERGE, January 7, 2019, accessed December 6, 2019 .