Aerospace professors play key role in designing, testing prototype aircraft

Imon Chakraborty and Ehsan Taheri, assistant professors in aerospace engineering, are combining their collective expertise to work with Transcend Air Corporation to help develop its Vy400 high-speed vertical takeoff and landing aircraft concept.

Powered by a fuel-burning turboshaft engine, the Vy400 is expected to carry up to five passengers for commercial or private flights at a cruising speed of 405 mph with sustained hover capability.

“We were encouraged by the results that we got in Phase I, which was meant to be a more exploratory phase. Phase II is much more oriented towards development, prototyping, and testing. Now with Dr. Taheri a part of the team, our goal is to demonstrate that the hardware-software interface capabilities that his lab has developed and the flight control architecture developed in my lab can be successfully integrated into this novel subscale configuration and then successfully flight-tested,” Chakraborty, who is the Auburn Principal Investigator for the project, said.

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