A Look At The Doroni Aerospace Flying Car

Flying space cars are projected to be the future of aviation. Quite a few companies, like

Archer aviation

, are working in the field of eVTOLs to bring services, such as air taxis, into the commercial market. The other name in the field of eVTOL that made headlines last year as one of its flying cars was type-certified was Doroni Aerospace. Let’s take a look at this startup and its flying car in greater depth.

Photo: Doroni Aerospace

Futuristic Flying Car: A Look At The Doroni Aerospace H1

Doroni Aerospace- a brief history

Doroni Aerospace is a company that is based in Pompano Beach, Florida. It was founded in 2016 by Doron Merdinger, someone who served as the CEO of the Judaica silversmith company Hazorfim. His LinkedIn profile reveals the mission of Doroni Aerospace:

“Doroni’s mission is to transform intracity transportation, improving the way we work, play and live. We are helping to define the future of urban air mobility, engaging with the aviation industry, academia, the military, regulatory agencies as well as our prospective civilian and commercial customers. Our personal flying vehicle will offer a safe, practical, inexpensive and environmentally friendly alternative to traditional automobile transportation.”

Photo: Doroni Aerospace

Doroni stands out from companies such as Archer as it is focusing on capturing the personal mobility market instead of eVTOLs that are looking to offering services like air taxis or ride-sharing. Some of the other ways in which Doroni expects its flying car to be used are the following:

• Personal recreation
• Emergency services
• Law enforcement

Which aircraft of Doroni Aerospace received its FAA certification?

Doroni Aerospace’s H1 “Hummingbird” received its type certification by the FAA last year. Electrek.co quoted the words of the CEO, Doron Merdinger, after the H1 “Hummingbird” received its type certificate, and said that the occasion was “not just a milestone for our company, but a leap forward for the entire field of personal air mobility.”

Here’s a look at

how the H1 Hummingbird is expected to fare

:

Photo: Doroni Aerospace

It is expected that deliveries of H1 will begin in 2025. The flying car has a clean-sheet design heavily influenced by drone technology. By November 29 last year, Doroni had “conducted over 50 test flights with its X8 prototype eVTOL, a 643-pound full-scale prototype”. The flying car’s batteries could be charged from 20% to 80% in under 20 minutes.

Unveiling its latest – the H1-X

In March earlier this year, Doroni Aerospace unveiled another of its flying car – the H1-X, an improvement on the H1 Hummingbird. Like its predecessor, the H1-X also has two seats. Doroni was quoted in the Flying Magazine as saying that the H1-X was “so intuitive that a 4-year-old could fly it.”

The same magazine also quoted Doron Merdinger’s views on H1-X:

“The H1-X is not just a vehicle; it’s a leap towards a future where freedom of movement and sustainability coexist…Our dedication to innovation, safety, and the environment is embodied in every aspect of the H1-X, marking a new chapter in transportation.”

Tandem Wing configuration

H1-X’s is equipped with a tandem wing configuration – something that is quite unconventional in the aviation industry. Doroni expects that this will help enhance lift and efficiency in the aircraft. To manage airflow, the aircraft has integrated wing landing gear with wing fences.

Photo: Doroni Aerospace

In the Journal of Aerospace Engineering, Tomasz Goetzendorf-Grabowski and Marcin Figat published an analysis of how the tandem-wing configuration is beneficial for eVTOL :

“The tandem wing configuration seems to be very promising despite the fact that such unconventional configuration can cause some problems with flying qualities. The VTOL and STOL functionalities connected with relatively high speed can be a good choice for PPlane system and any other personal airplane.”

The wing configuration will also allow aircraft (like the H1-X) fitted with the tandem wing configuration to become stable:

“The stability analysis shows that despite an unconventional configuration and unconventional behavior (i.e. two lateral periodic modes), the proposed vehicle can be designed as stable. Moreover, sufficient flight control system should be a good solution to improve flying qualities and to obtain well-rated pilot opinion.”

Propulsion System

Here are a few features of the propulsion system of the H1-X:

• Four in-wing electric ducted fans that lift the aircraft. In addition to reducing noise, the fans also enhance flight efficiency while keeping the blades enclosed.
• Eight vertical electric motors enable the H1-X to take off or land without a runway. Each of the four wings of the aircraft is equipped with two motors.
• Two rear-mounted pusher propellers that allow it to move forward

Photo: Doroni Aerospace

How does the future look for Doroni’s flying cars?

Doron Merdinger predicts that helicopters and gas-powered cars might become obsolete in the coming days as these means of transport have a heavy ecological footprint. Talking to jetsetmag.com, the CEO of Doroni said how eVTOLs are futuristic:

“People are frustrated by traffic jams, pollution and the destruction of the ecosystem..Why destroy nature and create congestion in our urban spaces if you have the technology to circumvent these problems?”

The same magazine quoted that Doroni had already secured 370 pre-order requests. According to electrek.co, Doroni is looking forward to building as many as 125 units of the flying car by 2025 or 2026. It is expected that Doroni is hoping to produce 2,500 eVTOLs per year in the years to come.