Airbus A³ Vahana
| Company type | Prototype project |
|---|---|
| Industry | Aerospace, Urban air mobility |
| Founded | 2016 |
| Founder | Airbus Group (A³) |
| Defunct | December 2019 |
| Headquarters | Silicon Valley , United States |
| Parent | Airbus Group |
The Airbus Vahana (derived from the Sanskrit word Vāhana, meaning "vehicle") was an electrically driven, eight-rotor VTOL personal air vehicle prototype, also classified as an eVTOL. This project was initiated and funded by A³ (pronounced "A-cubed"), Airbus Group’s advanced projects branch located in Silicon Valley. Introduced in 2016, the Vahana was designed to offer a cost-effective solution for short-distance urban travel, targeting daily commuters within Airbus’s broader urban air mobility strategy. The initiative was wrapped up in December 2019.
Development
The convertiplane concept, sponsored by Airbus, commenced development in 2016 under the Vahana name—Sanskrit for "vehicle"—at A³, Airbus's innovation hub in Silicon Valley. Airbus emphasized that fully autonomous vehicles are essential for scaling Urban Air Mobility operations. Former CEO Tom Enders envisioned a future where flying cars would navigate aerial pathways above cities.
Testing of early Vahana prototypes took place in Santa Clara, California during 2017. The initial model, Vahana Alpha One (registration N301VX), was unveiled at the 2017 Paris Air Show. Its maiden full-scale flight occurred on 31 January 2018 near Pendleton, Oregon, reaching an altitude of 5 meters within 53 seconds. By August of that year, the prototype had completed more than 25 hover tests and transitions to forward flight.
By January 2019, the second unit, Alpha Two, was completed while Alpha One continued transition flight testing. On 3 May 2019, Alpha Two successfully performed its first full forward-flight transition on its 58th sortie. Airbus ultimately decided against mass production of both the Vahana and the ducted-rotor CityAirbus demonstrators.
The Vahana program concluded in December 2019 to prioritize CityAirbus development. Its final flight took place on 14 November 2019 after completing 138 test flights totaling over thirteen hours and covering approximately 903 kilometers. The longest individual flight lasted close to twenty minutes and spanned more than fifty kilometers.
Design
The configurations included an electric helicopter design as well as an eight-motor tilt-wing. Based on blade element momentum theory calculations, the electric helicopter layout demonstrated better hover efficiency at shorter distances, whereas the tilt-wing configuration showed superior performance over extended ranges. The project remains open-ended with expectations that the electric tilt-wing may provide operational cost benefits along with quieter operation and improved safety for urban air transit.
Both variants were engineered to carry a payload of up to 200 lb (90 kg). The helicopter’s gearbox power density was estimated at approximately 6.3 kW/kg. Each design incorporated about 15 kg allocated for avionics and an additional 15 kg for a crash-certified seat. Electrical actuators weighed roughly 0.65 kg apiece—eight units for the helicopter and twelve for the tilt-wing—with two extra actuators in the tilt-wing configuration weighing around 4 kg each. An extra allowance of about ten percent was included to cover fittings and miscellaneous components.
Cruise power requirements were lower for the tilt-wing compared to the electric helicopter. Disk loading values were similar to those found in many existing light helicopters; however, the electric helicopter demanded less power during hover phases at short distances. Further technical specifications can be found under "SELF-PILOTED AIRCRAFT FOR PASSENGER OR CARGO TRANSPORTATION."
Vahana was conceived as an autonomous aircraft anticipating a shortage of qualified human pilots relative to expected flight volumes, aiming to enhance payload capacity while minimizing labor expenses. Unlike autonomous ground vehicles, self-piloted aircraft must navigate at higher velocities in three-dimensional space, necessitating faster processing capabilities along with advanced sensors and actuators. The autonomous navigation system integrated Lidar technology complemented by cameras and radar arrays.