June 11 – While the Air Force Research Laboratory and local defense contractor Modern Technology Solutions Inc. (MTSI) are getting ready to test a new flying taxi, visitors to the CenterPoint Energy Dayton Air Show should see it soon.
MTSI and AFWERX, the Air Force’s innovation arm, recently selected an aircraft from Pivotal, a manufacturer of single-seat electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicles.
Under the agreement announced earlier this year, Pivotal would provide several BlackFly pre-production eVTOLs and two flight simulators for rental to MTSI, which would be used in AFWERX and Air Force evaluations.
MTSI, which has offices in Beavercreek, supports AFWERX with flight testing and program management.
MTSI will have eVTOL BlackFly aircraft as well as static or ground displays and a simulator at the Dayton Air Show on June 22 and 23 at Dayton International Airport, company executives said in a recent interview with this newspaper.
“There’s going to be a lot that the public will see,” said Scott Jokerst, Dayton location manager for MTSI, which has about 425 employees in the Dayton area.
Nathan Jones, a flight test engineer who works for both MTSI and AFWERX, said the company hopes to one day have six of the planes at the Springfield-Beckley Municipal Airport for evaluation.
These would be some of the first electric aircraft that could be used for “attractive” or relatively inexpensive applications in combat or other environments, Jones said.
“It could be used as an air motorcycle, if you want,” he said in an interview.
Pivotal, MTSI and AFWERX plan to test the craft at an airport north of San Antonio, Texas, as well as at the Air Force Research Laboratory’s National Advanced Air Mobility Center of Excellence at Springfield-Beckley Municipal Airport.
The goal will be to see if the design is suitable for Air Force missions.
“Over the next eight months, we will fly eight BlackFly eVTOL aircraft in various environments to test their mission effectiveness and suitability for military use,” Vance Drenkhahn, executive vice president of MTSI, said in a February release. “Pivotal’s amazing lightweight eVTOL platform provides the opportunity to power AFWERX and solve real-world challenges.”
“AFWERX continues to look for ways to advance our understanding of eVTOL operations, maintenance, logistics and potential use cases,” said Lt. Col. John Tekell, AFWERX Agility Prime branch chief. “1-2 person eVTOLs have potential for a variety of missions including special operations, surveillance and disaster and emergency response with local command and control at a much lower cost than traditional helicopters.”
