Let’s have a look at the current progress of Bartini, the eVTOL development company, at the National University of Science and Technology prototyping and engineering center.
source/image(PrtSc): McFly.aero
Here is Bartini half-sized functional prototype.Though it is not a vehicle ready to get passengers on board yet, it is a significant milestone on a roadmap to a certified passenger aircraft — scaled ground and flight tests.
source/image(PrtSc): McFly.aero
There are essential differences between this model and the full-scale aircraft in the future. Firstly, the size, secondly, the ring cowlings were not intended to take part in the flight tests but provided critical info during the ground tests.
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It takes a lot of time and investments to design the shape of coaxial props to work with a fenestron. It is better to do it for the exact weight and thrust required. So it is only feasible to do for the full-scale vehicle.
Before embarking on that task, Bartini had to establish that they mastered materials and manufacturing that will yield a cowling with certain levels of stress and vibration resistance at a specific weight. Done! If you stand on a fenestron, it will only bend 2 mm.
