New Horizon Aircraft, doing business as Horizon Aircraft, a Canadian advanced aerospace engineering company and developer of the Cavorite X7, one the world's first hybrid eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) aircraft, is thrilled to announce that it has been awarded a prestigious INSAT programme (The Initiative for Sustainable Aviation Technology) non-dilutive grant to help fund 'CRYSTAL', an all-weather eVTOL project in partnership with Flight Centre of Excellence (dba Certification Center Canada, or 3C) and the University of Toronto (UofT). CRYSTAL has an estimated total expenditure of $10.5 million, and Horizon Aircraft will receive $2.0 million in grant proceeds.

“By supporting innovative companies like Horizon Aircraft, we are helping to strengthen Canada's global competitiveness while accelerating the transition toward a more sustainable, forward-looking aerospace industry; one that reflects the ingenuity and ambition of Canadian entrepreneurs,” declares Michel Dion, CEO of Strix, the non-profit organisation powering the INSAT programme. Strix is dedicated to promoting innovation and collaborative research in the Canadian aerospace industry and related sectors.

Project CRYSTAL (Canadian Research Yielding SusTainable All-weather Lift system) will focus on developing and testing an all-weather vertical propulsion system for eVTOL aircraft like Horizon Aircraft's hybrid eVTOL, the Cavorite X7. The first phase of the project will focus on characterising advanced ice detection technologies and protective technologies such as ice-phobic and electrothermal coating solutions developed by UofT. With support from 3C, the second phase will focus on testing and analysing the viability of the technologies on the Cavorite X7.

Vice president of business development at 3C, Phil Cole, states: “Project CRYSTAL is profoundly important, not only to our partners in this project at Horizon Aircraft and UofT, but potentially to any traditional fixed wing or rotary wing air vehicle, advanced air mobility vehicle and drone that wishes to operate in climactic conditions that could lead to the accretion of ice.”

Most helicopters cannot operate in known icing conditions due to a risk of ice forming on rotor blades or in engine inlets, which can lead to severe vibrations, decreased stability, power failure and loss of lift. Despite these prohibitive operating limitations, helicopters currently play an important role globally, flying critical missions such as medevac, disaster relief and in the defence sector. Developing an all-weather eVTOL that is safer, faster, more economical and better for the environment, like the Cavorite X7, could provide a better solution for executing a wide range of important operations.

“Our team has calculated that if an all-weather Cavorite X7 replaces only 4% of the global helicopter fleet, a reduction of 2.6 billion pounds of CO2e could be realised annually,” states Horizon Aircraft co-founder and CEO, Brandon Robinson. “In addition to being more sustainable, our aircraft is projected to cost up to 75% less per kilometre than a helicopter while moving more people or cargo at much higher cruise speeds. Being awarded this INSAT grant will allow us to accelerate innovation of eVTOL systems, which could revolutionise the way people and critical goods are moved around the planet.”

Phil Cole adds: “We are delighted that our collaborative research project has been selected by INSAT and look forward to this project leading to further collaboration between the partners and the development of a complete ice protection system that can be exploited across many platform types in future.”

Horizon Aircraft plans to certify the Cavorite X7 for Flight Into Known Icing (FIKI), a rare certification across early concept eVTOLs and helicopters in the market.