Distributed electric ducted-fan VTOL — a clean-sheet airframe study for ICAO exploring the next generation of short-haul electric flight. Thirty-four ducted electric motors with vectored thrust, 300 km range, 8-passenger cabin, full lithium-polymer powertrain.
Eagle is a clean-sheet EVTOL concept developed as part of the studio's ongoing work for ICAO — exploring what a credible next-generation short-haul electric aircraft could look like once the regulatory and battery-density barriers come down. The brief was open: propose a vertical-takeoff aircraft that re-thinks propulsion architecture rather than just electrifying a helicopter.
The answer is a wing-mounted array of 34 small ducted electric fans distributed along the leading edge, with full thrust vectoring for vertical take-off, transition, and cruise. The high-count, low-thrust-each approach trades a single point-of-failure rotor for graceful degradation — losing several motors still leaves enough thrust to complete a controlled landing. It's also dramatically quieter at hover than a conventional rotor configuration.
The mission profile targets the 300 km regional segment — coastal commuter routes, inter-city hops between metropolitan areas, and short island links. With 8 seats and a 3 500 kg payload it sits between a luxury EVTOL air-taxi (4-6 pax) and a regional commuter aircraft (19-50 pax), opening up a category that today doesn't really exist.
Powertrain: lithium-polymer battery banks distributed along the wing root for both inertial benefit and thermal isolation, feeding the duct array via solid-state inverters. Configuration: twin-boom, V-tail, single tractor cockpit. Pipeline: Rhino → KeyShot for materials, environmental composite render passes for the location work.
Eagle is built around two long wing-root spars, each carrying 17 ducted fans arranged in two rows of ducts that tilt together for vertical, transition, and cruise flight. The cockpit pod sits forward of the leading edge between the booms.
Spec sheet for the concept as currently configured. These are target figures — the airframe is a study, not a flight vehicle, and final values would depend on the certified motor and battery hardware chosen for any actual programme.
The 300 km range targets three distinct operating contexts: dense coastal commuter routes, inter-metropolitan hops over green-belt corridors, and remote regional connections where surface infrastructure is the limiting factor. Renders below were composited into real coastal, urban, and mountain environments to test scale and presence.
The International Civil Aviation Organization is the UN specialised agency that develops global standards for civil aviation — covering everything from air-traffic management and aircraft certification to environmental regulation. Eagle was developed under IDMR's ongoing concept-design work for ICAO exploring the next generation of commercial flight.
If you're working on an aircraft, EVTOL, or any next-generation mobility concept — concept design through engineering-grade visualisation — let's talk. Send a brief and we'll come back within two working days.
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