The Transforming Vertical-Takeoff Plane That's Better Than a Flying Car

​While the flying car may never get off the ground, XTI Aircraft is hoping to bridge the gap with its new take on a light jet that will transport you door-to-door.

The TriFan 600 is the brainchild of David Brody, who in 2012 began dreaming of true long-distance point-to-point air travel. He has since gathered an elite team of aviation experts—including Jeff Pino, former president of Sikorsky, and Charlie Johnson, former president of Cessna—to plan the first commercially certified, high-speed, long-range airplane capable of vertical takeoff and landing.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

The TriFan 600 uses three ducted fans powered by two gas-turbine engines. Once the craft is airborne, the two wing-mounted fans rotate to provide forward thrust. (The center fan, only used for vertical lift, is covered and not used during high-speed flight.) The two jet engines will reach a combined 2,600 horsepower, XTI claims. All that power will lift six occupants straight up into the air and then blast them forward at a top speed of 400 mph and an altitude of 30,000 feet.

This isn't Brody's first attempt at bringing a vertical flight aircraft to the market. Ten years ago he started AVX Aircraft with the intention of building the next-generation equipment for the United States Army's Future Vertical Lift (FVL) program seeking a replacement for the aging Sikorsky UH-60 Blackhawk. The AVX proposal to the Army included a vertical lift aircraft similar to the TriFan 600. However, Brody's first concept created vertical lift through the use of traditional coaxial rotor, while forward thrust was to have come from a dual ducted fan facing to the rear of the aircraft.

Brody's didn't win the Army contract, as the Pentagon chose bigger players: Bell Helicopter with their V-280 tilt rotor that shared technology from the V-22 Osprey and Sikorsky-Boeing offering a variation of their revolutionary X-2. Undaunted, Brody took the AVX Aircraft vertical lift concept a step farther when he started XTI Aircraft to bring an executive variation to the civilian commercial market. You can see that many design features from the original AVX concept (including a patent Brody won for AVX Aircraft) made their way into the newly announced TriFan 600.

Brody has been trying to build a game-changing vertical lift aircraft for over 10 years, but has yet to build a single prototype. To show the world that the TriFan isn't vaporware and to get the project airborne, his team is turning to equity crowdfunding. Before Regulation A+ under the Jump Start Our Business Act of 2012, only accredited investors with high net worth could buy in at an early stage of privately held companies. Now, all supporters have the opportunity to be potential stockholders.

If you think you might want to invest, or simply feed your curiosity, head over to StartEngine and check out the crowdfunding campaign.

Source: The Transforming Vertical-Takeoff Plane That's Better Than a Flying Car