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.
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May 2021 - The United States Air Force has begun active flight testing of the Beta Alia EVTOL aircraft.
(OPERATORS list includes past, present, and future operators when applicable)
✓X-Plane (Developmental, Prototype, Technology Demonstrator)
Aircraft developed for the role of prototyping, technology demonstration, or research / data collection.
VERTICAL TAKE-OFF / LANDING (VTOL)
Series has a tactical capability to take-off and / or land vertically, a quality commonly associated with helicopters.
MULTI-ENGINE
Incorporates two or more engines, enhancing survivability and / or performance.
RUGGED AIRFRAME
Inherent ability of airframe to take considerable damage.
EXTENDED RANGE PERFORMANCE
Capability to travel considerable distances through onboard fuel stores.
ENCLOSED CREWSPACE(S)
Features partially- or wholly-enclosed crew workspaces.
Width/Span
50.0 ft (15.25 m)
MTOW
6,008 lb (2,725 kg)
(Showcased structural values pertain to the Alia-250c production variant)
Installed:
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.
Range
288 mi (463 km | 857 nm)
(Showcased performance specifications pertain to the Alia-250c production variant. Performance specifications showcased above are subject to environmental factors as well as aircraft configuration. Estimates are made when Real Data not available. Compare this aircraft entry against any other in our database or View aircraft by powerplant type)
None.
Supported Types
(Not all ordnance types may be represented in the showcase above)
Ribbon graphics not necessarily indicative of actual historical campaign ribbons. Ribbons are clickable to their respective aerial campaigns / operations / aviation periods.
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United States (testing)
