This eVTOL Flies 3 Times Farther Than Most Electric Aircraft. Here’s How.

The Talyn system includes a drone and main aircraft, which can fly five people for 300 miles, or three times farther than most competitors.

By DANIEL BACHMANN  (Rob Report)

Courtesy Talyn

Almost two years ago, two space-exploration aeronauts got together to find a way for people to skip airports and fly straight to their destinations. Both had just worked on the Falcon 9—the first orbital class rocket capable of re-flight—and the SpaceX Crew Dragon, a class of reusable spacecraft that carries up to seven passengers and cargo to and from Earth’s orbit.

Inspired by their space rocket pioneering, Jamie Gull and Evan Mucasey, co-founders of LA-based Talyn Air, designed an aircraft that can fly like a plane, but launches and lands with the help of a large drone, much like a tugboat that maneuvers a ship to and from the dock.

The unmanned drone will consume its own battery power to lift the Talyn eVTOL to its flight level, where it will release the eVTOL once its rotors reach a flight-sustaining speed. The drone will then return to its base to be recharged for another lift or landing mission.



The Talyn aircraft will take off and land, thanks to the battery-powered drone on top, and will be able to fly farther since it will require no tilt-rotors. Courtesy Talyn

“The Talyn system mimics staged rockets like the Falcon 9 by separating the VTOL vehicle from the long range cruise aircraft after liftoff, just like separating the first rocket stage when it is expended,” Gull told Robb Report. “Then it transitions to forward flight; the two vehicles separate; the VTOL portion returns to the take-off pad. It’s an electric aircraft at that point that is very efficient, very aerodynamic, lower mass, so it can go much farther.”

Having saved all its battery power for actual flight, Talyn’s eVTOL will be able to fly up to five passengers at 200 mph for up to 300 miles.

“Our cruise vehicle can also fly three to five times as far as other battery eVTOL competitors because it does not have to carry around the VTOL rotors and structure, which add mass and drag,” says Gull.

The five-passenger aircraft will have a range of 300 miles at 200 mph, which is three times farther than most eVTOL aircraft. Courtesy Talyn

Talyn says its dynamic duo will be more cost effective because it won’t require the typical tilt-rotor systems found on its competitors’ designs. “Our system is also cheaper to operate because less energy is expended in flight due to it being more efficient,” he says. “They are also much less expensive to purchase.”

The company says commuter times will be dramatically shorter, since it will fly between destinations, rather than from airport to airport. An air trip from New York City to Boston, according to the company, will be four times faster with the Talyn than on a traditional commuter flight.

The founders recognize significant engineering obstacles exist for their concept eVTOL. “We look forward to tackling the extremely hard challenge of making mid-air separation and docking of vehicles a reliable reality,” they said in a note to designers and engineers, as they build the company.