Conceptual Design of the Joby S2 Electric VTOL PAV

Abstract

Recent advances in electric propulsion technologies have opened up new design options for aircraft through the application of distributed electric propulsion. Notably, many vertical takeoff and landing configurations that were previously impractical or impossible now have the potential to become viable aircraft that provide transformational capabilities. One such configuration, a two-seat fully-electric 200 mph personal aircraft with 200 mile range, is being designed by Joby Aviation to meet unaddressed commuting and transportation desires. The distributed nature of the propulsion system enables unprecedented redundancy and simplicity in a VTOL aircraft, resulting in increased safety and lower maintenance; additionally, other aspects of this configuration reduce noise signatures and drastically decrease energy usage, and the 200 mph cruise speed is significantly faster than comparable existing small VTOL aircraft. Design goals are introduced to constrain the design space to practical and viable configurations. The conceptual design of this aircraft entailed the use of design tools of various fidelity, including vortex-lattice analysis, blade-element momentum theory codes, and full Navier-Stokes CFD analysis. A sizing code integrated results from these tools along with semi-empirical mass estimates to perform mission analysis and analyze trade-offs between various design variables. The resulting aircraft design demonstrates the potential of these new electric propulsion technologies to enable viable and attractive new VTOL configurations that can provide new capabilities to private pilots.