Solvay has partnered with Italian urban air mobility (UAM) company Novotech to manufacture part of a prototype hybrid water landing aircraft.
Solvay will supply its range of thermoset, thermoplastic composites and adhesive materials as well as technical support to develop the structure of Novotech’s hybrid Seagull water landing aircraft second prototype, which is due to fly in late 2021.
Accrording to Leonardo Lecce, CEO of Novotech, the Seagull is the first two-seater aircraft featuring carbon fiber composite components manufactured via automated fiber placement (AFP) rather than via manual processes. ‘The introduction of such advanced automated production processes represents a first step towards the development of scalable products for a viable UAM environment,’ he added.
The hybrid aircraft incorporates an automatic folding wing system, capable of both landing and taking off from lakes and sea due to its trimaran hull configuration.
This story uses material from Solvay, with editorial changes made by Materials Today. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of Elsevier.
