Beta Alia

Electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing (EVTOL) Aircraft

United States | 2024

"The unique Beta Alia EVTOL product has garnered the interest of the United States Air Force."

Image from Beta Technologies marketing materials.

Authored By: Staff Writer | Last Edited: 05/06/2021 | Content ©www.MilitaryFactory.com | The following text is exclusive to this site; No A.I. was used in the generation of this content.

The future of flight lies in wholly electric propulsion as more and more startups emerge touting all new impressive designs for the growing market. Beta Technologies, headquartered in South Burlington, Vermont, has developed its "Alia" as an Electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing (EVTOL) solution complete with quadcopter arrangement for vertical hovering actions and pusher prop for horizontal flight. The aircraft seats one and its internals can be arranged to accept cargo or up to five passengers.

The design of the aircraft is unique with the rounded, streamlined fuselage held under the mainplane and tailplane lines. The mainplanes are seated over the fuselage ahead of midships and are of slim design with cranked-back tips. Booms run through the mainplanes with a pair of rotors fitted forward and another fitted aft of the wing members. The booms are joined to the horizontal plane at the tail. The tailplanes are swept back and joined lower at the sides fuselage at its extreme end while straddling the pusher prop arrangement.

The air vehicle sits atop a four-point skid assembly though a wheeled undercarriage has also been seen in testing. The pilot is seated in the cockpit at front-left with oversized windows ahead and hinged, automobile-style doors along the sides of the fuselage for general entry into the cabinspace. As the mainplanes are high-mounted with their vertical lift rotors, there is no danger to personnel on the ground.

The Alia-250c model has been in development for three years (as of May 2021) with the goal to produce the most cost-effective, electrically-efficient aircraft capable of traversing from vertical, hovering flight to horizontal movement within a single design. Subscale, ground-operated designs have been completed to prove the life-size model sound.

Currently, the aircraft features a distributed Direct-Drive electric propulsion system to drive the 4 x Two-bladed lift rotors and the single three-bladed tail rotor / pusher prop. Maximum Take-Off Weight (MTOW) is rated at 6,000lb. Dimensions include a wingspan measuring 50 feet. Operational range is 250 nautical miles with a total recharge time of the onboard battery being 50 minutes.

The electric propulsion system is dependent on a battery bank which is air-cooled and sealed from environmental interference and represents the heart of the electric drive unit. The vertical lift motors are also air-cooled units allowing for high-torque and general operating efficiency. The pusher prop relies on dual inverters which convert energy for the motors. A triple-redundancy system is built into the units for maximum safety.

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May 2021 - The United States Air Force has begun active flight testing of the Beta Alia EVTOL aircraft.

Power & Performance
Those special qualities that separate one aircraft design from another. Performance specifications presented assume optimal operating conditions for the Alia-250c Electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing (EVTOL) Aircraft.

Distributed, Direct-Drive Electric battery-fueled system driving 4 x Rotors for vertical lift / hovering flight in quadcopter arrangement on mainplane booms and 1 x Three-bladed propeller unit at the rear of the fuselage in "pusher" arrangement for horizontal flight.
Propulsion

288 miles
463 km | 250 nm
Operational Range

Structure
The nose-to-tail, wingtip-to-wingtip physical qualities of the Alia-250c Electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing (EVTOL) Aircraft.

1
(MANNED)
Crew

50.0 ft
(15.25 m)
O/A Width

6,008 lb
(2,725 kg)
MTOW

Variants
Notable series variants as part of the Beta Alia family line.

Alia - Base Series Name.

Alia 250

Alia-250c

Operators
Global customers who have evaluated and/or operated the Beta Alia. Nations are displayed by flag, each linked to their respective national aircraft listing.

Total Production: 1 Units
Contractor(s): Beta Technologies - USA

[ United States (testing) ]

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Image from Beta Technologies marketing materials.

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Image from Beta Technologies marketing materials.

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Image from Beta Technologies marketing materials.

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Going Further...
The Beta Alia Electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing (EVTOL) Aircraft appears in the following collections:

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