After making its first manned eVTOL flight last June, Florida's Doroni Aerospace has announced its next model. The H1X rocks coaxial ducted fans and pusher props, and targets 120 mph (200 km/h) cruise speeds for up to 40 minutes.
Interestingly, that's a little slower than the targets laid out in 2022 for the original Doroni H1. But the H1X is also a little lighter at 1,350 lb (612 kg), and capable of carrying the same 500 lb (200 kg) of payload between the pilot and passenger seats and whatever luggage you're carrying.
As with the H1, the new design uses coaxial fans positioned in ducts along the wings. This time, the fans are out wider, which makes sense for control authority in VTOL operations, and it also appears to give the H1X a little extra wing surface, particularly at the rear.
Ducted fans, as opposed to the open props on the Air One, for example, should be better for noise suppression and less likely to give bystanders an unscheduled rapid haircut. On the other hand, as we learned looking at the remarkable wing-splitting Horizon Cavorite X5 design, they do present their own challenges, particularly once you're moving at speed.
In cruise flight, you're more or less asking the airflow over these ducts to make a 90-degree turn, and if it can't bend quickly enough, you can starve the forward halves of the fan discs of air.
We asked how Doroni plans to deal with this issue, or whether it expects wing lift to be enough compensation here. "We are not concerned with the airflow over the ducts at higher aircraft velocities," the team tells us. "The fans speed are slowing down as the vehicle’s forward velocity speeds up and the air will start to flow right over the in wing fans. There has been old wind tunnel testing from the 60s that shows this."
As for cruise, there's a chunky-looking set of pusher fans hanging below the rear wing, and while the X shape of the landing gear and rear wing look pretty wide, the H1X is absolutely designed to be stored in a regular-sized garage. It'll work with EV quick chargers if you've got one, allowing a full charge in 25 minutes at maximum rate.
Controls-wise it's largely automated, with a single joystick and a screen, accessible from either seat. There's push-button takeoff and landing, anti-collision sensors, and a ballistic chute if this go really pear-shaped. We expect Doroni is planning to sell it as a Light Sport Aircraft, which will require pilots do just 20 hours of training.
Doroni says the H1X will undertake full-scale prototype flight testing by the end of the year. The aircraft will start rolling out in 2025 if all goes to plan, with mass manufacture slated for 2026. The current estimated cost is US$3-400,000.
It's certainly a fun and futuristic looking design, we look forward to seeing it in the flesh. But rather than opening pre-orders, Doroni is calling for investors to get on board. I guess we'll see how that goes!
Source: Doroni
