Abstract:
In 2010, Leonardo Helicopters (formerly known as AgustaWestland) activated a confidential research initiative under the name of "Project Zero", having the goal to position the Company at the forefront of the latest and disruptive rotorcraft technology. Notably, rather than incubating the single technologies separately and demonstrating their advantages onboard a conventional platform, the company decided to combine them in the form of a flying testbed with a highly innovative architecture. Conceived to substantiate a vision of new possible things to come and developed in co-operation with an international team of specialists. The project aimed to achieve the first all-electric flight in a very tight window, leveraging the expertise of also non-aeronautical partners to make the most of the available building blocks, which represented both a technical and organizational challenge. 10 years on, the resulting testbed could be considered a forerunner of modern electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing (eVTOL) air vehicles and some of the incubated technologies an established asset of the rising Advanced Air Mobility (AAM). However, many technical solutions stemmed from trials and errors and the team had to work hard to keep on time and on budget regardless of the contingencies. Now that the project is over and the vehicle has been presented at multiple airshows, the authors disclose more information about its original design. Going into the technical details of the individual enabling technologies and their integration at aircraft system level. Discussing the pros and the cons, with the purpose of drawing some lessons that may be beneficial to the progress of vertical flight and the development of more sustainable air transports.