Source | XTI Aerospace Inc.

XTI Aerospace Inc. (Englewood, Colo., U.S.) has announced the successful completion of a structures technical familiarization (Tech Fam) meeting with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), another completed step forward in the company’s path to certification of the TriFan 600.

The TriFan 600 is XTI’s vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) business aircraft that takes off and lands like a helicopter, flies at speeds of up to 311 miles per hour and has a range of up to 985 miles, creating a new category that XTI terms the “xVTOL.” The hybrid-electric platform’s entire structure, including the fuselage and wings, is made of carbon fiber composite materials, according to eVTOL.news.

Engineering experts from XTI and the FAA reviewed the TriFan 600 aircraft’s structural design philosophy, analysis methodologies, load conditions and compliance approach. XTI is committed to a collaborative and transparent certification program and plans to conduct additional Tech Fam meetings with the FAA across additional disciplines in the coming months.

“Completion of this collaborative Tech Fam meeting progresses the TriFan 600 towards type certification [the FAA approval of the design of the aircraft and all component parts],” says David Ambrose, XTI’s VP of engineering. “We continue to de-risk critical aspects of our structural design with FAA input.”

Airframer.com notes that, alongside its certification push, XTI is also exploring propulsion innovation through a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with MagLev Aero. Under the MOU, the companies will assess integrating MagLev’s HyperDrive tip-driven ducted fan technology into XTI’s future hybrid-electric aircraft and UAV designs. MagLev CEO Ian Randall says that magnetic levitation “has not been used in operational aircraft propulsion before” and could help “push the boundaries of what’s possible.”