Jaunt Air Mobility Reveals Planned Hybrid Cargo Drone

PHOENIX—Jaunt Air Mobility has revealed plans to go to the market with an uncrewed, hybrid version of its Journey electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) compound helicopter.

While Canadian advanced air mobility startup Jaunt had previously told Aviation Week that it was exploring the concept, the remarks from CCO Simon Briceno confirm for the first time that it has officially decided to pursue the subscale cargo drone as its first product.

Briceno says that the subscale drone will have several benefits for Jaunt, allowing it to get to market quickly and start generating revenue, while also serving as a testbed to leverage development toward the full-scale, passenger-carrying Journey air taxi.

While Jaunt has yet to decide on the size of the drone, Briceno says it is being designed for medium-lift cargo services with payloads of 200-500 lb. and a hybrid range greater than 200 mi. He did not divulge specifics about the hybrid propulsion system.

The uncrewed platform could potentially enter service within the next couple of years, Briceno says, noting that it does not require a formal type certification to begin some lower-risk operations in many regions.

“Our plan is to commercialize a subscale unmanned aircraft system, particularly geared toward the cargo market,” Briceno told Aviation Week on the sidelines of the Vertical Flight Society’s Transformative Vertical Flight 2025 conference here in Phoenix.

“We see big opportunities for a product like this, especially in Canada where we have very remote regions with indigenous communities that don’t have sufficient road infrastructure,” he says. “If we can provide them with medical supplies, fuel and cargo, using a remotely-controlled platform, then we can do a lot of social good for those underserved communities.”

While the cargo drone offers an ideal path to market, Jaunt is sticking by its longer-term plans to develop and certify its four-passenger eVTOL compound helicopter. The Journey has a range of 80 mi., payload of 980 lb. and cruise speed of 175 mph.

The Journey has an unusual design compared to other eVTOLs. It is a slowed-rotor compound helicopter, in which the rotor is powered electrically for vertical takeoff and landing, but unpowered in cruise, like a gyroplane. The rotor is slowed in cruise, with lift and propulsion transferred to the wing and its four electric propellers.

“We have the ability to slow the main rotor down to under 100 rpm and unload it, so the weight of the aircraft transfers from the rotor system to the wing,” Briceno says. “This is a major achievement that unlocks greater speeds in cruise flight, and we’re no longer subjected to all the limitations of a helicopter in cruise.”

The company plans to certify the aircraft with Transport Canada under the equivalent of Part 29 for transport-category helicopters.