Full-Scale eVTOL Aircraft Flight Dynamics Testing, Modeling and Simulation

Electric-motor driven Vertical Takeoff and Landing (eVTOL) vehicles have the potential to transform short-range VTOL flight, offering benefits in quietness, simplified flight control, redundancy, and speed. However, they also pose considerable design challenges in terms of rotor-rotor and rotor-airframe interaction effects on performance, flight dynamics, vibratory loads, and noise. Computational models under development to analyze these characteristics lack enough high-quality, full-scale flight test data for validation. To address this gap, NASA is seeking proposals for technology that will “accelerate the development timeline of full-scale eVTOL aircraft via simulation or flight test” targeting the design and execution of experiments on relevant, full-scale AAM systems to generate “research-quality data to build up flight dynamics modeling and simulation of full-scale, multi-rotor eVTOL aircraft, with an emphasis on high/increased-fidelity real-time aerodynamics.” This proposal presents a plan to address these goals through the acquisition of valuable, new flight test data for a representative full-scale eVTOL aircraft and utilizing this test data to improve upon the aerodynamic model fidelity currently available within real-time, piloted eVTOL flight simulations.

The proposed research effort will provide performance, aerodynamics, flight dynamics and control flight test data for a full-scale eVTOL lift+cruise vehicle. This directly responds to Scope #2 of this subtopic solicitation supporting NASA’s ARMD Strategic Thrust 4: Safe, Quiet, and Affordable Vertical Lift Air Vehicles, as well as Thrust #1 – Safe Efficient Growth in Global Operations and Thrust #3 – Ultra-Efficient Subsonic Transports. The solicitation cites 7 specific NASA projects for which this work is “highly relevant”, including the Revolutionary Vertical Lift Technology (RVLT), Transformational Tools and Technologies (TTT) and AAM National Campaign projects. NASA has identified the lack of full-scale eVTOL vehicle flight test data as a critical gap delaying the timeline for eVTOL vehicles to be certified and deployed at mass scale for public use. NASA’s National Campaign is actively gathering flight test data to fill this gap. The proposed research complements NASA’s work, leveraging industry development and experience to allow the gathering of unique, new flight test data for a full-scale lift+cruise eVTOL vehicle. NASA will use this test data to develop and validate the eVTOL aircraft modeling tools currently being developed in NASA’s RVLT software toolchain. The proposed effort will also provide NASA with technology that advances the state of the art in the aerodynamic fidelity possible within real-time piloted eVTOL/AAM aircraft flight simulations. As NASA cites in the solicitation, obtaining high-fidelity aerodynamics models that can accurately model rotor-rotor and rotor-airframe interactions is paramount to NASA’s goals. The proposed project provides direct technology transition in Phase I/Phase II, including the delivery of both the flight test data for RVLT software toolchain validation and the high fidelity aerodynamics modeling for use in NASA’s Vertical Motion Simulator – NASA’s tool of choice for eVTOL aircraft flight simulation. The Vertical Flight Society tracks the number of companies developing new eVTOL/AAM aircraft concepts (evtol.news/aircraft), a list that has grown from 6 in 2016 to over 1000 in 2024. The technology that will be developed in this effort will be of tremendous value to these companies. Continuum Dynamics, Inc. (CDI) has provided engineering services and analysis software to dozens of eVTOL AAM air taxi vehicle developers, including many of the top companies in the field. CDI was working closely with Uber Elevate before its sale to Joby Aviation, and all the original Uber Elevate aircraft partners continued to work with CDI after the sale. Our commercial eVTOL aircraft customers are clamoring for the precise modeling development and validation against full-scale flight test data being proposed. In fact, CDI singled out this subtopic area precisely because it addresses the greatest technology gap among our eVTOL clients. The test data and analysis enhancements produced will be instrumental to the success of this new generation of entrepreneurial organizations who have an immediate need for the proposed full-scale, flight test data and the improved real-time piloted flight simulation capability it will engender. The eVTOL aircraft market size is projected to grow to over $100 billion/yr in the next decade. However, any accidents once eVTOL air taxis begin operations could wipe out much of this potential. The proposed effort is targeted directly to mitigating the risk of accidents by providing the high-fidelity aerodynamic modeling in real-time eVTOL/AAM aircraft flight simulators that will allow hazardous flight dynamics issues to be identified and addressed in the lab, long before actual flights with passengers begin. Similarly, the technology will also support the FAA in ensuring eVTOL air taxi safety prior to granting certification – a process greatly complicated by the wide variety of complex new eVTOL configurations being developed.

This is a mature technology (TRL 7+) — the realistic path in is usually NASA's Technology Transfer Program: licensing an existing NASA patent, or a Space Act Agreement to use NASA facilities/expertise directly. NASA also runs a startup licensing program with no upfront fee for companies formed to commercialize a specific NASA technology.

None of these are guaranteed paths for this specific project — TechPort itself doesn't have an "apply" button. Reaching out to the contact(s) above with a specific question is usually the fastest way to find out what's actually open.