Samad Aerospace, the UK start-up working on the Starling family of eVTOL and eSTOL aircraft, has rebooted itself under the name ARC Aero Systems and with an ambitious business plan to bring new models to market: a compound rotorcraft as well as a pair of autonomous cargo uncrewed air vehicles (UAVs). ARC stands for Advancing Regional Connectivity, and its founder, Seyed Mohseni, says that the company’s mission has shifted to serving subregional passenger and freight applications, rather than short flights within urban areas.
The key features of the new Linx P9 design are a main rotor that draws electric power only during jump takeoffs and no-roll landings. An electric motor spins the rotor head until there is enough speed to make the rotors turn, at which point the pilot changes the tilt angle of the rotors for takeoff, after which point a pair of pusher propellers and a fixed wing support horizontal cruise flight. Once airborne, the rotor will be unlocked to act as a wind turbine generating more electrical power.
The concept is based on a 1960s-vintage Canadian gyroplane called the Avian, for which ARC purchased rights to the type certificate. ARC has added the fixed wing to the design and will use a hybrid-electric propulsion system to support a range of up to around 950 kilometers (594 miles).
The cabin is expected to seat nine passengers, and with six plus a pilot on board, the range is expected to be 860 kilometers. The Linx P9, which is roughly the size of Leonardo’s AW109 helicopter, will operate at altitudes of up to 3,962 meters and have a maximum cruise speed of 300 kilometers per hour.
According to Mohseni, the Linx’s architecture means that it will not be subject to current requirements for powered rotorcraft and so offers a more cost-effective path to market. “It can be certified like a [fixed-wing] general aviation aircraft and the competitive advantage of our technology is that it has a defined certification path,” he told FutureFlight, explaining that he expects it to receive airworthiness approval under a mix of Part 23 and Part 27 rules.
According to ARC, the jump takeoff approach means that minimal electrical power is expended for the VTOL stage of operations. “Otherwise, we would have to use about half a megawatt of power for takeoff and would need more batteries, resulting in fewer passengers on board and less range,” said Mohseni.
ARC intends to eventually integrate a hydrogen propulsion system with the Linx aircraft. However, initially, the hybrid system will use an as-yet-unspecified turbine engine.
ARC’s engineers have been working in stealth mode on the Linx design for 12 months. The company says it has flown a one-third-scale technology demonstrator and is now increasing the size of its team to complete the preliminary design phase of the program.
The program timeline calls for a full-scale prototype to be ready to fly by 2025, with a production-conforming version debuting in 2026. The company’s aim is to make the first deliveries in 2028.
At the same time, ARC says, it is advancing plans for a pair of UAVs called the C-600 and the C-150. Both are derivatives of Samad’s earlier Starling aircraft, but with rotors replacing ducted fans used for the earlier designs, which included models such as the eStarling, the QStarling, eStarling Cargo, and the Starling Jet. The new models will be available with both all-electric and hybrid-electric powertrains, offering ranges of, respectively, 400 and 100 kilometers and payloads of 150 and 30 kilograms.
According to Mohseni, ARC has already flown full-scale C-600 and C-150 demonstrators. The company hopes to deploy the C-600 by the end of March as part of flight trials in Scotland under the auspices of the UK government-backed Future Flight Challenge.
To date, all this work has been conducted with limited funding of around $10 million. Mohseni told FutureFlight this has been achieved with the help of low-cost partners in Africa and Asia, which he said had been able to complete tasks at around 10 percent of what they would cost via Western companies. The company is now seeking to raise a further £30 million ($37 million) through a Series A funding round, with anticipated backing from the public sector and a mix of strategic and financial investors.
ARC, which is looking to recruit 26 staffers this year, is preparing to build a headquarters and engineering center at Cranfield Airport in England. The company intends what it refers to as the ARC eVTOL House to be the model for future “eVTOL Aviation Village” developments around the world. With funding provided by partners, these developments might include residential areas and a business park.
