The NEW Beta eVTOL: Fly without FUEL or RUNWAY!

What if you could operate an airplane without any fuel or a runway? Give the future a try now in X-Plane 12.
www.x-plane.com/
www.beta.team/

[@CessSim]

Thanks Austin. Great stuff as always....

[@quantumac]

I always enjoy Austin's enthusiasm for anything aviation.

[@Soren0]

Me too, Austin is a great story teller.

[@hpharold23]

So, its not simulating each blades as invidual wings producing lift? This is scripted base not a real time simulation.

[@austinmeyer]

@@hpharold23 WEIRD.. I thought I already replied to this question... but now I don't see the reply. Anyway, I sim the blades in each of the four cardinal positions to get the advancing, retreating, and cross blades. I do this for helicopters, drones, prop planes.. ALL of them. This is HUGE in what makes helicopters fly, ALSO matters for drone configurations like this plane, and is even what causes p-factor in light planes! Helicopters and drones have MORE speed on the ADVANCING blade, and LESS speed on the RETREATING blade.. helicopters alone (NOT drones or this airplane) change their blade PITCH as the rotors turn, as well. So X-Plane MUST and DOES simulate the blade at multiple locations around the hub as it spins. FOUR locations, as I have it coded now.

[@kenmarchbanks4301]

So electricity just grows on trees and doesn’t require any fuel?

[@austinmeyer]

@@kenmarchbanks4301 ALMOST! It falls from the sky in the form of sunlight, blows thru the air in the form of wind, and in the case of this airplane, being developed in Vermont where the power comes from Quebec Hydro, jumps from the water is it falls down a hill. So, it is a lot easier than collecting it from trees. Much easier than that. Would be very annoying to go harvest it from trees!

[@ThatPilotKyle]

I love getting to see the Alia fly all the time in person :)

[@sUASNews]

You lucky thing, I have enjoyed trying it in questions and have some many questions about the transitions! I will try and get SITL and Ardupilot to drive it then I can relax

[@itoibo4208]

amazing the difference between 4 large lifting rotors and one small pushing prop. Really brings home how much more efficient a regular wing is.

[@mogumogu3686]

Loving these videos Mr Austin. You Sir...are a LEGEND👍👍👏👏

[@Flight737]

Thankyou Austin great video looking forward to more of them

[@jameswaters3939]

You are brilliant and have "camera presence". You are the pioneer of the 64-bit flight sim and I extend my thanks for your knowledge and abilities. Continued success. jw.

[@maxvogan8183]

Beautiful ! Thanks Austin!!!

[@paulbrunton877]

Brilliant work, thanks for the videos.

[@renejr2296]

Thank you for your contribution to the field, history will be kind to you dear pioneer 🙏🏾

[@FritzWeinrebe]

Can't wait to give it a go. Looks like fun !!

[@EliteHobbies]

Fantastic, can’t wait to try

[@ezsim1111]

OH, WOW! Austin's done it again! (LOL) So glad I added this channel! Thanks, X Plane!

[@ZaneBAviation]

Austin! Thanks for coming to The Green Mountain State

[@wootle]

Brilliant as always. So cool to see the IRL machine and then the XP12 one. This really is an engineering sim first that also excels as escapism for us armchair wannabes and RW pilots who want to stay on top of things.

[@SounderAU]

Just took it for a quick spin! Such a cool plane!! FYI: If you have 2 throttles axis you can bind one to "Throttle Vertical" and one to "Throttle Horizontal".

[@jorn-jorenjorenson5028]

Probably a stupid question, but where can we see how much the batteries are charged? And how can they be re-charged or even charged at all before flight? I managed to fly it, but after a couple of minutes it always seems to loose power.

[@Topper_Harley68]

Wow, you are a genius.

[@FritzWeinrebe]

@@jorn-jorenjorenson5028 look on the Nav display.in the lower left corner there is a Voltage. It starts roughly at 800 and I found that at 600 the motors are cut off.

[@jorn-jorenjorenson5028]

@@FritzWeinrebe Thank you! Yes, I noticed that little number as well in the meantime. Thought there would be some more obvious batteries indicators somewhere though. Not too unimportant information... : D I assume there are some features still missing for electrical planes in XP12, hopefully they will come in an update soon.

[@FritzWeinrebe]

@@jorn-jorenjorenson5028 pleasure. Yes I hope so too. Probably they are working on it since it is still a Beta.

[@LetsplayIndieGamesChannel]

Thanks for sharing this video and this revolutionary aircraft with us through the sim. Im mind-blown

[@hpharold23]

So, its not simulating each blades as invidual wings producing lift? This is scripted base not a real time simulation.

[@FritzWeinrebe]

@@hpharold23 So what you are saying is that the lift produced by each rotor blade is not based on Austin's blade element theory calculations? X-plane is build on blade element theory. Why would this be any different?

[@emmabentley7945]

i have to Admire Laminar's step up in the Social Media game this time with X Plane 12, they are showing their experience with there product, and how Flight Dynamics are unrivaled in any sim. I for one thank them for their work.

[@masdeca]

Are you still working for Laminar? :)

[@emmabentley7945]

@@masdeca haha i wish. just a scenery dev.

[@masdeca]

@@emmabentley7945 I was really convinced that you actually worked for them. Sorry to have turned that knife in the wound (italian way of saying). XD

[@T-Lappi]

So cool airplane and so fun to fly! Thanks!

[@maxvogan8183]

Love flying you around in the Citation X Austin. Lol ... Just noticed you were the passenger today while flying the X

[@Island_Line_Rail_Productions]

Some quick notes to those not from Vermont. We get a lot of our power from Hydro-Quebec. So, no we do not use coal powered plants here. Burlington Electric uses woodchips to power their electric plant. While some of that is brought in by truck, most is brought in by NECR 500, a 20+ car woodchip train running from Swanton to Burlington 5 days a week. Airport where Beta is located is KBTV, Burlington International.

[@charliesadielouie]

Entertaining video - enjoyed! I would personally have preferred that you went with “electric powered” over no “fuel” for obvious reasons (unless you are suggesting that only wind, sun or water would be used to generate the electricity used to charge the batteries). Would love to own one of these some day!

[@jaykayenn]

Just installed XP12 and took the Alia for a spin in VR. Absolutely brilliant.

[@user-nu7qk6vn6m]

Hi, may I ask where to find/buy the Alia 250 and try it on XP12?

[@hakanr339b]

This is awesome!! 😍

[@gjcenten]

Wow, Just bought X-Plane 12 after years of using X-Plane 11 and discovered this awesome aircraft. Nice Video Austin and I must say, it wasn't that hard to figure out the landing part thanks to my extensive experience with helicopters. :) By the way, speaking of helicopters, the RobinsonR22 flight behaviour is very acurate compared to the real helicopter. I'm so glad I bought XP12...

Thank you for sharing.

[@lukexploration1446]

You should add a sling to the game. I learned how to fly one and they are powerful and good for flight training.

[@adamsalyer]

Sling 4 TSi

[@lukexploration1446]

@@oorheart I don’t know how to use plane maker 😅

[@georgeb9651]

It's really amazing the science of Aviation is moving at a fantastic pace

[@anthonygordon9483]

No the science of cell phones is helping aviation move a little faster would be a better way to put it. Aviation paid no attention to gyro technology or electronic power until cell phones dropped the price of lithium technology. It will be interesting to see cause autonomous vehicles are making better progress and people still may favor taking a self driving car long distance or commuting rather then a flying vehicle.

[@spavliskojr]

This is a totally different looking thing- so cool

[@sobrevoandobra]

Amazing Aircraft. I love it!!! Easy to flight!

[@medwaystudios]

Took a few flights with this, nice plane and interior is well done.

[@RaspySquares]

Hell yea, looking forward to trying this thing out. Controllers on PE might be confused lol

[@caturlifelive]

Awesome Hopefully one day I can get on a plane, especially with airplane like this

[@robertrose1098]

I seriously love this aircraft.. I wish my father was still alive to see the amazing advancements in technology only since he passed away.. he always told me and the other children that we were very blessed as we would see things in the sky ...!!!! Things man has only dreamed about... He was an amazing man . He knew that were on the cusp of some seriously fantastic inventions being un-serpressed..!!! He was a very intelligent and incredible person whom studied serpressed Inventions which he would often talk to me about. Water powered vehicles and engine's we would often descuss.. and a multitude of Inventions which have been serpressed for obvious reasons.. I always felt excited and would pray to God to help keep him alive so he could see the future... But as life is .. he did see amazing advancements in technology but no matter how much I had prayed to God.. he would still witness man advance ironically quickly throughout his life time.. I would love to see the future ahead.. And we talked about this.. he told me that "nothing is impossible." its only improbable." and it is only improbable because we don't think of it " !!! . I have always loved science fiction.. but now days the line between science fiction and science fact are becoming very blurry !!!! .

[@gertjanvandermeij4265]

JUST ......... one word ..................... *AWESOME !!!*

[@adamsalyer]

X-plane is pushing the bar! in my opinion it's the real pilot's sim of choice.

[@alexmatson81]

Awesome video! I can see the effort you put in Austin!

[@BotanistOnDuna]

I love all of Austin's videos, he should be a content creator!

[@glennllewellyn7369]

Beautiful.

[@johnc.4871]

This eVTOL is a lot of fun to fly around in and it has enough charge to get to places.

[@jfbaze2001]

The eVTOL still requires fuel. It is just called a battery. It is super cool that this is in X-Plane.

[@WouterHermans]

It requires *energy*. It used to be fuel, but now can be electrons and protons stored in a battery.

[@edutter9261]

The battery is actually the fuel tank. The fuel is the energy that is stored in the fuel tank.

[@meofnz2320]

Fuel by definition is “a material used to produce heat or power by burning”. A battery stores energy. Fuel is consumed chemically to produce energy.

[@edutter9261]

@@meofnz2320 The fuel is burned at the power station and the energy is transferred to the battery, stored for future use. Electric vehicles use the same fuel as gas powered vehicles. Unless it is a coal or nuclear power station.

[@meofnz2320]

@@edutter9261 I think you’re slightly missing my point about batteries but nonetheless agree. Unless you consider wind, solar or hydro. Though even in those cases the ultimate fuel source are hydrogen atoms in the sun. I guess you’re implying that EVs are just as polluting as normally powered cars. From what I can deduce looking at all the upstream factors EVs are at least no worse, and usually better. But there’s no free ride.

[@ishangoel5794]

Been at Beta! Cool place! Cool simulator they have!

[@maxvogan8183]

whats their airport ICAO code?

[@ishangoel5794]

KBTV

[@CmputrAce]

It still requires "FUEL", electricity may be that fuel, but it's still fuel.

[@bruceyboy7349]

But you also know what he meant

[@quantumac]

And much of that electricity is generated by fossil fuels, and that will be the case for many years to come. One can't spin a society as large as ours on a dime. Converting to other energy sources will take significant time, and yes, even energy itself.

[@bruceyboy7349]

@@quantumac and the way to start is to move away from direct use of the fuel itself. If that move isn't started then the "takes significant time" becomes "it will never happen"

[@quantumac]

​@@bruceyboy7349 Even if tomorrow the US government said "yeah, we lied, Roswell was thing" and "we reverse engineered inexpensive Zero-Point-Energy generators", it would still take a while to build the infrastructure and shift over to the new energy source. Most importantly, it would take inexpensive existing energy sources to do it. This is why it makes no sense to artificially make fossil fuels more expensive now, as our current global leaders have done, resulting in massive inflation. We need to keep fossil fuels cheap WHILE converting over to alternate sources. It also won't ever happen if we can't afford to make it happen.

[@bruceyboy7349]

@@quantumac Okay. Lots of nice points there that are completely irrelevant to what I said but, hey, if you've got something to get off your chest then go for it.

[@NegInfinity]

Couple of things: 1. I tried to play this in VR, there's noticeable lack of controls in the cockpit. Basically, you can control the joystick and t here's standard flight instruments, but there aren't any way to actually control the engines. 2. Not needing fuel is not quite true, as somewhere there should be a generator pumping in all that electricity. And it runs on fuel. There's a question about flight time, as batteries have lower energy density (in case of helicopters, electric heli by Sikorsky supposedly can fly for 15 minutes compared to 3+ hours of the same model with fuel engine) 3. Why not an autogyro with jump takeoff capabilitiy if the idea is not to have a runway? The vertical rotors are surely going to cause an extra drag during forward flight. In case of autogyro they serve as a wing.

[@luftbilderhd]

Those kind of videos are really well done! Good job, LR! According to Austins final words: The question is not, how to LAND this aircraft (spot landings are quite easy if you have experience with helicopters), but the question is how to CHARGE this aircraft? "Weight & Balance" settings, where I can usually set the amount of fuel by slider(s), are useless for electrical aircrafts. So any hints for charging are really appreciated. Thank you!

[@colins2]

Map a button or key to the recharge function.

[@aviacao24horas]

Will you implement in X-Plane 12 when aircraft is landing or taking off, Lights reflect on Clouds? same in Skymaxx? I think it's the Landing Lights that does that right?

[@nathanwildthorn6919]

Thank you, Austin! This a _really_ great video. You *rock,* man!

[@christophresmerowski1824]

Nice theory - I want to see you fly this thing

[@satguy]

The one advantage they have, range. You can actually go somewhere in a reasonable amount of time.

[@Jet-Pack]

I was struggling getting this thing up to speed, didn't know I had to assign the pusher, thought it did it automatically at some point

[@markjmaxwell9819]

An interesting design. 😎

[@savagecub]

How’s the ice protection ???

[@gerhardmeyer5801]

Awsome just great

[@Phat737]

You do need fuel, but it comes in the form of electricity generated by coal, gas or nuclear power. There is nothing even close to the energy density of a gallon of AvGas. And as you fly that SR22, over time it’s performance gets better because it has burned off that weight of 12 gallons of AvGas and can now fly higher, to drop its fuel consumption and extend its range. Or catch a better tailwind and increase its groundspeed. With a battery powered aircraft, the performance you took off with is what you get until you land. The altitude you initially climbed to is all your going to get. The TAS (true airspeed) you took off with is all you’re going to get for the duration of the flight.

[@haydenharris3059]

Amazing 👏 ❤

[@airflightsim8]

So cool

[@EmlynInTheMix]

Hang on no way, how do you land it lol. Thanks for this video it was really interesting and I love Xplane.

[@gertjanvandermeij4265]

LOL .... Just kidding, *but people, 121 years from now, will laugh at this video ! Just like people did, 121 years ago,* at the Wright Brothers 😉 Just funny to see, how FAST technology is evolving !!! *Just keep up the good work, Austin Meyer ! WE X-Planer's love you !* 🤟👍

[@robertf6523]

3 weeks ago.. and you've got the same exact joystick I was using... at least 10 years ago, maybe 15

[@theflyingscotsman229]

AMAZING PLANECOPTER! nice job love flying this bird, what a great wee addition, great work to all involved😊😊

[@Flight737]

Glad you enjoyed it.

[@gordonjohnston684]

If the front two vertical lift engine’s could be tilted forward, you would have 3 horizontal engines propelling the aircraft forward. Even better if the rear horizontal could be configured down as well you could potentially have 5 engines driving aircraft forward.

[@nikolajkapa2283]

Looks hot.

[@kening95]

How long is the extension cord

[@gertjanvandermeij4265]

PS .... What is the "right" / "optimal" height, to start using the "pusher" propeller ? .... What is the "max" SPEED, when flying on ONLY the pusher propeller ? And what would be the "average" range, to fly it, on FULLY charged batteries ?

[@unlambda]

You should generally get on the pusher ASAP; as Austin mentions, lift rotors are quite inefficient, they draw a lot of power and if you leave them on too long can overheat the battery or lift motors. So get on the pusher as soon as you're clear of the ground, usually. The range is designed to be 250 NM with a 30 minute reserve. That will obviously vary based on a lot of factors, but that's the target.

[@sup2069]

Keep an eye on your battery! Was wondering why I was falling out the sky like a brick when trying to land. Would be nice if this was gas powered instead.

[@ezo2186]

Where can I find these recharge stations (in Xplane 12)?

[@Loki_365]

What happens if one of the rotors fails during takeoff or landing? Any chance of recovery?

[@bruceyboy7349]

Interesting question. At least there's more than one, which is all you get with a helicopter. I've no idea what the safety procedures are for helicopters. For fixed wing planes I have some idea so it would be interesting to know what procedures and safety systems exist for VTOLS

[@FritzWeinrebe]

Look under the Failures page. See if you can fail a motor. Then try it in XP12. X-Plane shines in what you can fail and the way it is simulated.

[@WalkaCrookedLine]

I was under the impression quadricopters big enough to carry humans were inherently unstable due to the large rotational momentum of the rotors making response to pitch and roll forces sluggish. I'd have to see a full scale working model to be convinced this is practical.

[@fredbecker607]

Last time I saw Austin, he was in early 20's. Haven't used the X-Plane years.

[@oscarsuarez7067]

🔥❤️🛫

[@birdmanbl]

Batteries are most difficult thing to recycle and can be shorted out by emp or other electrical issues

[@aleshkovalev]

Will this setup work in X-P11? Or it`s a new feature of 12?

[@buzzypeterson1147]

Why are they not using the top blades in drag like a gyrocopter? They can provide lift, they could reduce the wing by a lot and have the same profile drag. In fact, if the rotors were big enough you wouldn’t need wings.

[@czhusky]

Lilum seems to be a better eVTOL concept, the problem I see with this prototype is that it carries unused propulsion on the lifting rotors while on horizontal flight. Lilum uses all it's propulsion elements all the time. Cool and beautiful aircraft though.

[@gjsxnobody7534]

Is that real aerodynamics? How’d they get the airfoil and shape into xplane? Is that something we can experiment with? For real airfoil design.? I’d actually love to have something like that for boats and hulls. Anyone have any ideas?😊

[@chuckdeford4225]

I don't see any of the top rotor blades in the video when this plane is flying in the beginning. Hmmm.

[@Elwin3918]

Is there a prototype that uses could use hydrogen in the future when it’s available nation wide ? Has the company ever considered swappable battery packs for the vehicle which could. Reduce charging time and battery maintenance? thank you sir it’s an excellent vehicle

[@austinmeyer]

Yes. This plane is made to have swappable battery packs right from the outset. Batteries are getting better at 8% per year. So, let's say the battery pack wears out in 5 years. OK. No problem. Swap it out with a new battery pack with the latest tech and: Boom, MORE range than when the plane was new.

[@austinmeyer]

My first Tesla went 300 miles... my wifes new Lucid goes almost 600. Battery tech is skyrocketing. We're at the tipping point now.

[@AlpineWarren]

Sad to see us relying so heavy on lithium for storage when experts say we run out of it by 2032 and mining it poisons ground water.

[@austinmeyer]

Look at history. Battery chemistry keeps changing. Each step-change in battery density is from switching to a better materials and chemistry. It happens more often than every 10 years. First it was lead-acid, then NiCAD, then Nickel metal hydride, then Li-Ion, each better than the last as we find better chemistries. So history says we will be PAST Li-Ions when we discover... whatever comes next.

[@AlpineWarren]

@@austinmeyer I sure hope so! Right now we have very little science in action to replace this storage medium.

[@philnelson2364]

@@austinmeyer I just thought of something, Lithium Phosphate is only good to 0 degrees celcius whereas Lithium Oxide is good to -20 Celcius. Wonder if they'll come up with another variant to allow up to -40 celcius (2 degrees loss for every 1000 feet) so it might have a problem in colder climates like Vermont or Canada (Except British Columbia)

[@austinmeyer]

@@philnelson2364 Unsure... that goes beyond my knowledge.

[@paulneilson6117]

Now take 2 fuel cells from two Toyota Mirai hydrogen cars and the fuel tanks. Estimated range is easy to compute. Cut the battery pack to 10%. Mount the tanks underneath the battery. From tests with smaller drones the range is usually 3 times battery range alone.

[@maxvogan8183]

How do we relocate the charging pad. I cant find the original airport VT25 is a gass field

[@austinmeyer]

Head to KBTV... ramp start at Beta.. it's there.

[@compassft]

I don't understand the statement:"we don't need fuel"...does it glide? Is it so light to work as a glider? Its proportions would suggest it doesn't...?

[@jordanzurbruegg73]

Yes it’s cool looking plane but what is the range?

[@apivovarov2]

a motor glider is the most efficient aircraft. Still needs a runway though

[@austinmeyer]

If the motor glider has a gas-burning engine, then that engine runs at about 15% to 20% efficiency. Electric drive-trains, such as this one, run at 90% to 95% efficiency. So ALIA has a 5x to 7x advantage due to the propulsive system! So the motor glider AERO is better, but the engine: FACE-PALM. Factor them BOTH in, and the motor-glider would need about 6x the aero efficiency of ALIA just to MATCH ALIA. Do motor gliders have that? NOPE!!! So motor gliders have the right aero, but unless electric, they have the wrong motor.

[@Reticuli]

5:30 That seemed a bit abrupt. Maybe just the adjacent camera angle.

[@barsoom43]

Just like an electric car, they still need fuel: uranium, coal, nat gas or oil.. In some cases they could use falling water.. Very few will use sunlight stored in the batteries.

[@gertjanvandermeij4265]

BTW / Question ....... Would't it be better, if it also, have an propeller at the FRONT ?

[@austinmeyer]

Would block the view of the pad in landing. You want the kind of visibility you get in a helicopter. So the pusher works best in this application.

[@Eliseu_sayadim]

a legenda não esta funcionando,subtitle is not working

[@jamessv5020]

So, I tried landing this aircraft. Landing with just the pusher rotor did not pan out. I had to use the lifting rotors to assist with a smoother and safer landing. Anyone else? An observation -- I could not get this aircraft to run for over 30 mins; it ran out of "battery". How is that possible? Or was that time limit expected? Addl. Edit: I looked up a couple of EVTOLs (on youtube) and it seems to confirm that the battery life of this aircraft in XP12 is about as realistic as it can get. Actually, most of the ones that are currently at the prototype stage give out about 10 to 15mins of flying time.

[@normanappleton3627]

So, it STILL REQUIRES FUEL. Electricity stored in a battery is still fuel! And to make that electricity some other type(s) of fuel are required. But it does look interesting. What is it's glide ratio if the battery fails?

[@Dearestandme]

need a hybrid version fuel or electric

[@markloader9472]

What is electricity if not fuel?

[@ItaloBarbiero]

How long a full battery lasts on a normal flight?

[@FritzWeinrebe]

In the sim the Batteries start at 800 and the motors shut down at 600. I didn't got far.

[@mauriciocastro6363]

I wonder how Beta aircraft deal with thermal runaway in the batteries. This is an event of thermal instability of the batteries, needing to release tons of heat, gases and fire.

[@sempreame]

You need fuel to produce electrcity to charge the bateries. Unless you have your own solar or wind system at home.

[@austinmeyer]

Which, in fact, for my Tesla, I do!

[@sempreame]

@@austinmeyer , Good to know it, but 99.9% of the world is way far from this perfect scenario you have. Wind or solar or both you have?

[@austinmeyer]

@@sempreame luckily, not true!. The grid is more than 0.1% renewable. Therefore less than 99.9% of the world is polluting.

[@austinmeyer]

You can easily research this yourself, of course…

[@sempreame]

@@austinmeyer , Ok. Sorry. My source of information is out of date. Greetings from Rio!😀

[@junaidyaustero7807]

😍

[@hadleymanmusic]

Now for the new improved hendershot generator and we can ditch the batterys

[@cam_DA_Hawkdriver]

Electricity in aviation is a pipe dream for anything with distance/longevity. This plane seems to be more efficient than most at VTOL though.

[@XPlaneOfficial]

250 nautical miles has ben demonstrated in flight by the airplane shown in forward flight in this video....

[@finksther]

So where can i get it from? is it included in the latest beta or is it payware?

[@austinmeyer]

It is in the latest X-Plane 12 beta. Just run your X-Plane 12 installer now.

[@finksther]

@@austinmeyer thank you. Already took it for a ride. Will make a video about it soon

[@chavenyenketswamy1498]

Is it in the default list of aircraft in X-plane 12?

[@XPlaneOfficial]

yep!

[@chavenyenketswamy1498]

@@XPlaneOfficial Ok I see it now after I reinstalled X-plane.

[@yardmanvibes3559]

I wonder how much flying time or miles you get before recharging

[@XPlaneOfficial]

2.5 hours, demonstrated in flight so far.

[@austinmeyer]

@@XPlaneOfficial (250 miles)

[@glennllewellyn7369]

Interesting.