Elytron 2s Convertiplane at 2014 EAA AirVenture OshKosh

For the past 60 years, engineers have tried to combine the advantages of airplanes and helicopters, but currently the Boeing V-22 Osprey is the sole realization to be in production.

The Elytron family of aircraft is designed to provide the vertical take-off and landing capability of helicopters combined with the speed and efficiency advantages of fixed wing aircraft.

Elytron’s solution provides greater safety, speed, and simplicity of operation over any existing class of vertical take-off aircraft which makes it ideally suited for various uses, such as emergency medical services, search and rescue, air taxi, and oil exploration.

The concept for the Elytron design has evolved over a 10-year period during which Elytron Aircraft LLC experimented with several quarter-scale convertiplanes, as well as full-size airframe modeling, extended flight simulations, and CFD simulations. The popular Verticopter flying-wing design with inwing propulsion was the most successful of these prototypes but still had aerodynamic limitations.

In 2012, Elytron Aircraft LLC invented a new and optimized wing configuration that addressed all of the earlier design shortcomings.

The Elytron design combines three sets of wings: one pair of rotary wings called "proprotors", mounted on a single tilt-wing in central position, and two pairs of fixed wings. The fixed wings are split into a forward pair and an aft pair that are joined by winglets, which make use of the joined-wing concept.

By splitting the wings apart, the design eliminates any interference with the thrust of the proprotors.

The main wings have a high aspect ratio, are braced and can be built very light which reduces drag.

Since the front and rear wings are joined together by winglets, they enclose the proprotors eliminating the risk of rotor strikes.

The plane has superior glide ratios and low stall speeds because of this low wing loading design, and also displays excellent Short Take-off and Landing (STOL) capabilities.

(more infos downloading the press release)