Kaman Corporation's subsidiary Kaman Aerospace Group has been selected by Transcend Air Corporation to build the Vy 400 high speed vertical takeoff and landing (HSVTOL) aircraft. GE Aviation was recently named as the engine supplier.

The Vy 400 design is optimised to reduce the current time and cost barriers for regional city-to-city travel. The vertical takeoff and landing capabilities of the Vy 400 aircraft gives Transcend Air access to demand-rich centres of major cities. The high-speed Vy 400 travels over 400 miles per hour, making the journey from Manhattan to Boston in 36 minutes.

Transcend co-founder and CEO Gregory Bruell says: “Because of the Vy's high speed, we can complete many more passenger trips per aircraft. The combination of that with VTOL is key to our revolutionary economics, and Kaman will be key to us scaling up production to meet the huge demand that our mass market fares will drive.”

Kaman senior VP and COO Russ Bartlett adds: “Viewed from our unique rotorcraft market experience as both a helicopter manufacturer and a major supplier to other aerospace manufacturers, the Vy 400's advantages in both civil and military applications are compelling. Transcend Air has over 250 years of collective VTOL experience informing both the aircraft design and its go-to-market strategy. Kaman Aerospace Group has components and subsystems on nearly every rotorcraft flying today and we look forward to the opportunity to be part of this innovative aircraft with Kaman's singular blend of historical achievements and cutting-edge capabilities.”

Transcend co-founder and COO Peter Schmidt concludes: “The time is now for this aircraft. We are reaping the benefits of 50 years of advancements in technology since the pioneering of tilt-wing designs in the 1960s including computerised fly-by-wire flight control, aero-acoustics, electric control-surface actuation, Ballistic Recovery Systems' whole-airframe parachute, low- and no-carbon sustainable aviation and with the addition of Kaman's collaboration to deliver at scale. On the day it is certified, the Vy 400 will simultaneously become the world's fastest helicopter and the world's fastest single-engine civil turboprop, with Kaman structures, subsystems and assembly making it possible.”