Pipistrel Nuuva V300

The Pipistrel Nuuva V300 is an unmanned hybrid-electric VTOL cargo aircraft currently under development by Pipistrel and projected to be released in 2023. The aircraft has eight electric motors driving propellers providing lift as well as a single internal combustion engine driving a propeller providing thrust. The company claims that the aircraft will be able to operate with a typical cargo weight of 300 kg and a typical range of 300 km. In October 2020 the company announced that the aircraft would implement a Honeywell fly-by-wire system.

Design and development
The aircraft is a tandem wing design, with the rear wing of a larger wingspan than the front one. Both wings are attached to a fuselage, which features a large front door on the nose to access the internal 3 m3 cargo hold and an internal combustion engine with a pusher propeller at the rear end.

A pair of booms, one at each side of the aircraft, connect both wings and serve primarily to support eight electric engines intended for vertical propulsion. Each electric engine turns a 2-blade propeller.

In October 2020 the company announced that the aircraft would implement a Honeywell fly-by-wire system with triple redundancy for the autonomous flight control of the vehicle. The flight itself would be autonomous but managed remotely by a ground-based operator.

Pipistrel is planning for the Nuuva V300 to enter service in the second half of 2023. A smaller variant, the Nuuva V20, is expected to start operating as early as 2021 and would carry payloads of up to 20 kg.