Matt Pearson's Alauda Aeronautics develops its Mk3 eVTOL or flying car in Adelaide, with 2021 OK to start racing
Alauda Auronautics developed its Mk3 eVOLT or flying car at a factory in the Adelaide suburb of Beverley before the 2021 test flights in South Australia's outback.
Images courtesy Alauda Auronautics
Matt Pearson, founder of Alauda Aeronautics, a business set up in Adelaide to build eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) vehicles, had its first unmanned test of the flying cars in South Australia’s outback in 2021.
Pearson, also a founder of Fleet Space nano-satellite company in Adelaide, started Alauda in Sydney but moved it to the Adelaide suburb of Beverly because “we have been drawn to South Australia by some of the very best technical minds from motorsport, aviation and performance automotive.” Pearson assembled a world-class team of technical specialists, engineers and designers from F1, performance automotive and military aviation backgrounds, including McLaren, Brabham, Boeing, Jaguar and Rolls Royce to develop the Alauda Mk3.
The test flights by the Alauda Mk3, a four-metre-long multicopter, were supervised by Australia’s civil aviation safety authority that had worked with Alauda throughout to set up robust safety standards.
This opened the way to fulfil Pearson’s 2019 concept, Airspeeder, the world’s first grand prix racing series for electric flying vehicles. Alauda Aeronautics’ business headquarters were in London where its team formed alliances with global supporters of competitive racing, including Acronis, EQUALS, DHL and IWC Schaffhausen.
The Airspeeder races, scheduled for 2021 in three overseas locations, would have elite pilots from aviation, motorsport and eSports compete to remotely operate their eVTOL craft through electronically-controlled augmented-reality sky tracks. Telstra Purple would deliver the near real-time virtual race-control system for the high-speed, close format, muti-vehicle racing circuit in what would be called the Airspeeder EXA Series. The eVTOL crafts’ dynamic potential came from a better thrust-to-weight ratio than F15 jet fighters.
Pearson saw racing as an important testbed to rapidly develop key safety, powertrain and engineering for the wider general use of flying cars and air mobility. Morgan Stanley predicted technology in this area could be worth $1.5 trillion by 2040.
