Jaunt Air Mobility, a transformative aerospace company that designs and builds vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft for advanced air mobility, announced today that the US Air Force program AFWERX, via the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), awarded the company a Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) contract.
Under the contract Jaunt will team with Penn State University and Continuum Dynamics, Inc. (CDI) to employ advanced acoustical analysis techniques to characterize noise from Jaunt’s unique Jaunt Journey Compound Gyrodyne VTOL aircraft concept. This is one of three contracts awarded by AFRL to Jaunt under the leadership of Martin Peryea, CEO of Jaunt Air Mobility.
“The purpose is to gain a comprehensive understanding of the noise sources in our aircraft configurations and the unique noise reduction opportunities,” says Martin Peryea. “We will apply the knowledge to the design of the Jaunt Journey all-electric (eVTOL) aircraft, allowing us to develop the most efficient, ultra-low noise aircraft for our customers in the urban air mobility market as well as cargo, medevac, and close air support military aircraft.
Leading the Penn State University team is Professor Kenneth Brentner, an internationally renowned expert in aeroacoustics and rotorcraft noise. Dr. Brentner will be assisted by Mr. Dan Wachspress of CDI, the chief developer of CDI’s CHARM comprehensive rotorcraft analysis used throughout the eVTOL industry. Dr. Brentner stated that, “For this research, we will use CDI’s CHARM software coupled with our PSU-WOPWOP and PSU flight simulation software to model the Jaunt test vehicle. This noise prediction system was validated through comparison with NASA acoustic flight tests of six medium to lightweight helicopters in steady and maneuvering flight conditions.”
Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs are highly competitive programs that encourage domestic small businesses to engage in Federal Research/Research and Development (R/R&D) with the potential for commercialization. Through a competitive awards-based program, STTR enables small businesses to explore their technological potential and provide the incentive to profit from its commercialization. Central to the STTR program is the partnership between small businesses and nonprofit research institutions. STTR is to bridge the gap between basic science and the commercialization of resulting innovations.
