This electric VTOL uses a tail-sitter to take off and land smoothly

However, the Mad Bat does something truly unique and never before-seen by using a heavily modified tail-sitter. In its design, it consists of a very simple form of VTOL aircraft like an airplane with enough propulsion to be able to point its nose straight up and hang in the air but with the added bonus of powerful enough reinforcement to come down for a gentle landing on its tail.

So far, tail-sitters have not been popular in the eVTOL world because companies understand that passengers need a comfy horizontal seat to use. Tail-sitters would require the passenger to be placed pointing straight upwards or lying on his/her stomach.

The Mad Bat ingeniously manages to use a tail-sitter and provide a horizontal seat. It does this by mating its tail-sitting airframe to a swinging cabin that’s reinforced by heavy battery packs that keep it upright at all times.

This means that as the electric VTOL flies forward, its cabin stays level and its propulsion system also pushes forward until it's fully horizontal. The invention has the advantage of not needing a powered system to change the wing angle. All that is required is a system to dampen the rotation of the cabin.

Landing safely

The Mad Bat boasts four sets of landing gear on the bottom edges of its wings as well as another set under the cabin that allow it to take off and land like a conventional aircraft. The design is also accident proof. In case of a mishap, the electric VTOL can deploy a paraglider that allows the aircraft to land smoothly under any circumstance.

In addition, this model features no complex mechanical tilting systems adding to its efficiency. Finally, it uses the same motors for lift as for cruise, meaning there are no redundant lift propellers that could increase drag and weigh the aircraft down. On the ground, it boasts a small footprint making it convenient to use as it can be parked nearly anywhere.

Sabie has already built a prototype to test the model and claims the concept can scale up to be big enough to drive your car into. It’s an exciting development for electric VTOLs that could revolutionize the industry.