Airability (CEO Jinmo Lee and Taegyu Ryu), a future aviation mobility solution company, announced on the 21st that it will begin a follow-up research and development (R&D) project for the ‘Development of electric ducted fan design technology for future vertical takeoff and landing light aircraft’ through the public technology discovery and matching project of the Korea Institute for Science and Technology Promotion (COMPA).
This project will be led by the Korea Light Aircraft Research Association, with participation from ePowertrain Korea, which is responsible for developing electric motors, including Airability, and Sejong University, which is in charge of designing and analyzing ducted fans.
Electric Ducted Fans (EDFs) are essential for propulsion of high-speed eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) aircraft. Previously, these were imported at high prices from countries like Germany and the United States. This project is expected to contribute to reducing aircraft manufacturing costs and achieving technological independence in the aviation industry by enabling domestic design and production.
The research team is designing an 80kW electric ducted fan for a next-generation 1.3-ton vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. They plan to build a scaled-down 15kW model of the fan and conduct ground tests and flight evaluations. After verifying the performance and safety of the scaled-down model, they plan to expand the technology to larger components.
Based on its experience integrating the airframe of its self-developed vertical takeoff and landing drone, the AB-U60, Airability aims to secure core components with domestic technology through this research and establish a complete domestic aviation solution.
Airability Vice President Minyoung Ahn said, “Ducted fans are a key technology that directly affects aircraft performance, noise, and efficiency,” and added, “Through this research, we will reduce our dependence on foreign technology and strengthen our competitiveness in the global eVTOL market.”
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