2024 Corporate Aviation Leadership Summit

Charles Alcock

News and developments about airplanes, helicopters and unmanned air vehicles used in all varieties of operations, including airlines, military, business, commercial, general aviation and private.

News and developments about aircraft engines, including turbofan, turboprop, turboshaft and piston.

News and issues relating to civil and military unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) of all kinds and sizes, including those used for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), combat (unmanned combat air vehicles, or UCAVs), law enforcement, research and other applications. Of particular focus is the FAA's planned integration of UAS into the U.S. national airspace system.

The vehicle is intended for applications such as cargo deliveries and crop spraying

Moya Switches to Hybrid-Electric Propulsion For Autonomous eVTOL Aircraft

Moya Aero has achieved its first flight with the autonomous eVTOL aircraft it is developing mainly for logistics and <a href="https://www.futureflight.aero/news-article/2023-01-24/moya-aero-views-agricultural-and-cargo-services-likely-early-uses">agricultural applications.</a> On Monday, the Brazilian start-up reported that a technology demonstrator had flown for the first time on November 15, marking the start of a flight test campaign it hopes will lead to type certification and service entry in 2026.
The first flight with the 70-percent-scale aircraft was made from the Fazenda Maristela airfield close to São José dos Campos in São Paulo state and lasted five minutes.&nbsp;The Moya team has made 14 more flights since then and expects to start expanding the flight envelope during the summer season in the Southern Hemisphere. The company has already met with the Brazilian aviation regulator ANAC to agree on a process for certification.
The Moya aircraft will have a maximum payload of 200 kilograms (440 pounds), with a hybrid-electric version expected to offer a range of up to&nbsp;300 km (190 miles), while an all-electric version is limited to 110 kilometers (68 miles). It uses electric motors produced by T-Motors and batteries developed&nbsp;by Moya itself.
The design features two pairs of propellers, installed on a tandem wing configuration, each powered by its own electric motor. Rather than tilting the wings or propellers, the fuselage rotates between vertical and horizontal phases of flight.
<h3>Letters of Intent Pass 100 Aircraft</h3>
According to Moya, which is a spin-off from aerospace services group ACS Aviation, it now holds letters of intent (LOIs) from prospective customers covering 100 of the aircraft. The most recent commitment was made on November 29 by 7Reis Farm in Brazil’s Mato Grosso state, with the company planning to use five aircraft to spray large soya bean plantations. Earlier in November, Brazilian civil social organization MineToo signed an LOI covering 50 of the aircraft, and in October Canadian <a href="https://www.futureflight.aero/news-article/2023-10-24/logistics-group-n2-signs-sales-agreement-moyas-autonomous-utility-evtol">logistics group N2</a> signed a provisional sales agreement for four aircraft.
“Our eVTOL is more versatile,” said Moya Aero CEO Alexandre Zaramela. “It sprays six times more hectares per hour than conventional small drones and with greater precision to minimize dispersant drift.”
As evidence of what he sees as burgeoning demand for a more environmentally sustainable logistics platform, Moya Aero pointed to a recent report by market research group Technavio. It predicts a 4.61 percent compound annual growth rate in the Brazilian express delivery market between 2022 and 2027.
Development work is being supported by a $2 million grant Moya received earlier this year from FINEP, a Brazilian government organization that promotes science, technology, and innovation. It has received the same amount in seed fund backing from investors Fundepar, Hards, Techstars, and Seed4Science. Helisul Drones, ProAero, and Certifica Drones are partners in the program.

Managing Editor

Moya Aero's Autonomous eVTOL Logistics Aircraft Makes First Test Flight

Moya Aero has received its second commitment from a prospective operator for its autonomous utility eVTOL aircraft. Under a letter of intent signed last week, Canadian logistics group N2 Infrastructure Technologies agreed to acquire four of the aircraft from the Brazilian start-up and will work with it to develop use cases.
N2 Infrastructure Technologies is aiming to develop new air cargo business models as well as support emergency medical services. According to co-founder Raheel Kamal, Moya’s aircraft—which will have a payload capacity of 200 kilograms&nbsp;(440 pounds) and a range of 110 kilometers (70 miles)—is the “ideal specification for our mission in remote areas.”
From its base in São José dos Campos, Moya Aero is preparing to start test flights with a 70 percent scale technology demonstrator of its as-yet-unnamed drone. Earlier this year, it received a <a href="https://www.futureflight.aero/news-article/2023-06-07/moya-prepares-flight-test-technology-demonstrator-multirole-autonomous">$2 million grant</a>&nbsp;from FINEP, a Brazilian government organization that promotes science, technology, and innovation. The company sees <a href="https://www.futureflight.aero/news-article/2023-01-24/moya-aero-views-agricultural-and-cargo-services-likely-early-uses">crop spraying</a> as another viable application for its aircraft.
The design features two pairs of propellers, installed on a tandem wing configuration, each with its own electric motor. Rather than tilting the wings or propellers, the fuselage rotates between vertical and horizontal phases of flight. 
Moya, which was founded in 2020 by Renata Paolillo and Alexandre Zaramela, says it has begun discussions with Brazil’s ANAC aviation safety agency about the type certification process. Announcing the agreement with N2 Infrastructure Technologies, it said the target entry-into-service date for the aircraft is 2026.
“We see a great synergy between Moya Aero and N2,” Paolillo said. “We are both working to make logistics simpler and more sustainable.”
In May, Brazilian helicopter operators signed a letter of intent covering the purchase of 50 of Moya's eVTOL vehicle. It plans to operate these through its <a href="https://www.futureflight.aero/news-article/2023-05-03/futureflight-weekly-news-roundup">Helisul Drones</a> division.
According to Moya, it is building the fuselage and wings from composite materials, including carbon fiber and epoxy resin. It is producing its own batteries, having sourced electric motors from a company called T-Motors. An undisclosed supplier has provided the autopilot system. Moya, which is a spin-off from aerospace services group ACS Aviation, says its team has already received some training with the autopilot, resulting in adjustments to the aircraft’s controls. It is also ground-testing the various elements of the powertrain.

Logistics Group N2 Signs Sales Agreement for Moya's Autonomous Utility eVTOL Aircraft

Moya Aero&nbsp;is preparing to start test flights with a 70 percent scale prototype of its planned autonomous eVTOL aircraft. The Brazilian start-up this week reported that the first flight will take place during the southern hemisphere's&nbsp;spring season, which starts in late September, at an airfield called Fazenda Maristela near São José dos Campos.
Having earned a $2 million grant earlier this year from FINEP, a Brazilian government organization that promotes science, technology, and innovation, the Moya team has now almost completed manufacturing the technology demonstrator, which will have a 5.5-meter (18-foot) wingspan. It expects early use cases for the <a href="have a payload of 200 kilograms&nbsp;(440 pounds) and a range of 110 kilometers&nbsp;(70 miles).">unnamed aircraft</a> to include functions such as crop spraying and cargo deliveries in large countries like Brazil.
The design features two pairs of propellers, installed on a tandem wing configuration, each with its own electric motor. Rather than tilting the wings or propellers, the fuselage rotates between vertical and horizontal phases of flight. The aircraft is expected to have a payload of 200 kilograms&nbsp;(440 pounds) and a range of 110 kilometers&nbsp;(70 miles).
According to Moya, it is building the fuselage and wings from various composite materials, including carbon fiber and epoxy resin. It is producing its own batteries, having sourced electric motors from a company called T-Motors. 
An undisclosed supplier has provided the autopilot system. Moya, which is a spin-off from aerospace services group ACS Aviation, says its team has already received some training with the autopilot, resulting in adjustments to the aircraft’s controls. It is also ground-testing the various elements of the powertrain. 
<h3 class="subheading">Reducing Drag To Boost Performance</h3>
Over the next few weeks, it will produce the fairings that will minimize drag on the airframe as well as the landing gear. Moya claims its design will have 50 percent less drag than other lift-and-cruise-configured eVTOL vehicles, as a result of earlier work using computational fluid dynamics techniques to evaluate trade-offs between the propulsion system and the airframe shape.
At the same time, Moya’s engineers are developing a digital simulation of the aircraft to support further development work on the design and preparations for flight testing. It is also making a smaller drone demonstrator that it will fly to verify the autopilot.
Meanwhile, Moya’s marketing team has just concluded a joint study with Brazil’s Universidade Federal de Vicosa, which is an agricultural university. The partners have been evaluating applications for the aircraft.
Moya says it has begun discussions with Brazil’s ANAC aviation safety agency about the type certification process. For now, it has not set a target date for the aircraft to enter service but it says its program is on schedule and on budget.
In addition to the support from FINEP, the company says, it has a further $2 million in seed fund backing from Fundepar and Hards. It expects its eVTOL to be Latin America’s first high-capacity cargo drone.

Moya Prepares To Flight Test Technology Demonstrator for Multirole Autonomous eVTOL Aircraft

Moya Aero’s efforts to bring an autonomous eVTOL aircraft to market were boosted this week by a $2 million grant from FINEP, a Brazilian government organization that promotes science, technology, and innovation.&nbsp;The start-up, which is a spin-off from aerospace services group ACS Aviation, aims&nbsp;to start flight testing a technology demonstrator version of its all-electric vehicle in September 2023 as it pursues commercial applications such as cargo deliveries and crop-spraying. 
Having launched the venture in 2020, co-founder and CEO Alexandre Zaramela says his team has now completed preliminary and critical design reviews for an aircraft that will have a payload of 200 kilograms&nbsp;(440 pounds) and a range of 110 kilometers&nbsp;(70 miles). Moya, which has so far supported its work with the proceeds from a seed funding round and earlier grants, has not published a timeline for getting the unnamed aircraft certified and into production.
The version of the aircraft Moya intends to start flying later this year will be almost full-scale, with a wingspan of around 5.5 meters (18 feet), compared with seven meters for the production aircraft. This smaller proof-of-concept vehicle may eventually be brought to market for some missions.
The design features two pairs of propellers, installed on a tandem wing configuration, each with its own electric motor. Rather than tilting the wings or propellers, the fuselage rotates between vertical and horizontal phases of flight.
<figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media align-center">
<article class="media media--type-image media--view-mode-default">
 
 
 <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/futureflight/import/Moya%20Landed.png" width="3001" height="1688" alt="The fuselage of Moya Aero's eVTOL aircraft will rotate as it transitions from vertical to horizontal flight." title="The fuselage of Moya Aero's eVTOL aircraft will rotate as it transitions from vertical to horizontal flight. (Image: Moya Aero)">

</div>
 
 <div class="field field--name-field-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">The fuselage of Moya Aero's eVTOL aircraft will rotate as it transitions from vertical to horizontal flight. (Image: Moya Aero)</div>
 
 </article>

<figcaption>The fuselage of Moya Aero's eVTOL aircraft will rotate as it transitions from vertical to horizontal flight. (Image: Moya Aero)</figcaption>
</figure>
Under the current standards of Brazil’s ANAC aviation safety agency, the Moya vehicle is categorized in Class 1, which is reserved&nbsp;for the largest drones weighing more than 150 kilograms. Zaramela told FutureFlight that the regulator has not yet fully established the means of compliance to certify this category of aircraft.
According to company co-founder and chief operating officer Renata Paolillo, agricultural applications for autonomous aircraft could be among the early uses, in part because operations would avoid crowded urban areas while also sparing human pilots from relatively dangerous tasks like crop-dusting. With a flight endurance of 42 minutes, the aircraft would be able to spray around 105 hectares, which she said would&nbsp;represent&nbsp;higher levels of productivity than the largest Chinese-made drones now offer.
Moya sees a gap in the market for larger drones that could fill roles currently occupied inefficiently by light fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. Paolillo said its eVTOL vehicle will deliver a 50 percent reduction in operating costs compared with current equipment, as well as being six times more productive in crop-spraying exercises than small drones and with 10 times the freight payload.
Initial operations will have some human involvement in supervising flights from ground control centers. Moya is developing the autonomous flight control system in partnership with several undisclosed Spanish and Brazilian partners.
ACS Aviation has some 15 years of experience in developing aircraft with various partners. These include <a href="https://www.futureflight.aero/news-article/2022-05-10/embraer-backed-eve-boosts-evtol-plans-377-million-initial-public-offering">Embraer,</a> the Brazilian manufacturer, which is its neighbor in Sao Jose dos Campos&nbsp;and&nbsp;for which it contributed to early development work on the Eve eVTOL aircraft. ACS&nbsp;also developed the SORA-e, which Zaramela said was the first electric aircraft created in the southern hemisphere, as well as a light sports aircraft with a Chinese partner and a Class 2 drone (up to 150 kilograms).

Moya Aero

News

Moya Switches to Hybrid-Electric Propulsion For Autonomous eVTOL Aircraft

Moya Aero's Autonomous eVTOL Logistics Aircraft Makes First Test Flight

Logistics Group N2 Signs Sales Agreement for Moya's Autonomous Utility eVTOL Aircraft

Moya Prepares To Flight Test Technology Demonstrator for Multirole Autonomous eVTOL Aircraft

Moya Aero Views Agricultural and Cargo Services as Likely Early Uses for Autonomous eVTOL Aircraft

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