M4 Engineering, Inc.

📣Introducing our high-speed RAZOR VTOL aircraft. RAZOR will be the fastest, smallest, most powerful turbine-powered, AI-driven autonomous VTOL the world has ever seen. At #MaymanAerospace we are pioneering the future of autonomous flight with our family of cutting-edge high-speed RAZOR VTOL aircraft 👉 https://loom.ly/fC7kRF0 #RAZORaircraft #VTOL #VTOLaircraft #MilitaryAircraft #MilitaryAviation

BREAKING: XB-1 has successfully completed its third flight at the Mojave Air & Space Port in CA just weeks after its second flight. The flight test program is speeding up–keep watching for completed test objectives and more video soon.

Lauren Lacey leads our mechanical integration engineering team. From early hardware builds, to engineering validation builds, to production, her team is responsible for making sure the entire system works as designed. As a leader at Zipline, Lauren brings deep engineering experience, but it’s also her personal experience that we find so inspiring. Growing up in a small farm town in Missouri, Lauren experienced firsthand the toll it can take when your family can’t get access to the medicine they need. Hear from Lauren in her own words, and join us next week to see what she and her team have been building. https://bit.ly/3ZnZCRc

Ran into my friends at M4 Engineering while at the CAMX show! Stop by their booth and say hi to Dan! Dan Abir

All technology exists on a spectrum of science and fiction. This week the patented Fledermauser® VTOL technology inched a little further from 'fiction' to 'science' through outdoor bench testing. Focus on the new thing. The high weight of the 3D printed structural parts and low performance of the COTS components (and noise!) would not be applicable to a mission capable aircraft, but they do provide a low-cost baseline of performance for rapidly iterating upon, and improving, the performance of the unique geometry and configuration of the new technology. Experience scales. Testing on the boom roughly simulates how the different thrust and control inputs would interact through various phases of flight: hover, transition and forward flight. Boom testing does introduce some artificialities, but they are readily perceivable, and will be mitigated with further refinement. The propulsion unit does ‘fly’ just fine without the counterweight, but the counterweight enables longer test cycles on a single charge, facilitates the use of a lighter, less robust boom device, and dampens control inputs as I learn to operate it - and more realistically demonstrate transition. I think the value of observed and discovered behaviors, at this stage, outweigh the artificialities of digital modeling and simulation. (But in that regard, the Fledermauser® propulsion unit has done very well in basic CFD.) It will be interesting to see how the test boom evolves with the propulsion unit. Overall, the results of this testing, with appropriate changes and improvements, will scale to the next phase and sophistication of testing. “Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald. In the fall of 2023, Fledermauser® was part of a successful SBIR Phase I award under the topic of AF233-0004: Hybrid Turbo-Electric Propulsion Design and Optimization. Unfortunately, by the time the FY2024 budget was approved, the funds had been appropriated elsewhere and the entire topic was defunded. Nevertheless, periodic engagement with technical partners and potential operators have continued to evolve the Fledermauser® technical concept and potential applications. Current development favors UAS Group III versions, but for a general understanding of the overall concept, please also visit the following video: https://lnkd.in/gSPmFWDp.

We are thrilled to announce that we are the first airline to invest in JetZero, a company developing blended-wing body (BWB) aircraft. This innovative design integrates the wings and fuselage into a single smooth shape, reducing aerodynamic drag and fuel burn by up to 50%. The BWB aircraft also offers a spacious interior for enhanced passenger comfort. This investment reflects our commitment to advance new technology that will benefit the future of aviation, including those that enable our path to net zero carbon emissions by 2040. Learn more: