Another curious aerospace creation I came across recently. Garage models at this point- but you gotta start somewhere. This creation is reminiscent of the Bell-Augusta 609 which I thought had been shelved but apparently was bought by Augusta to get Bell out and quietly kept undergoing flight testing (
BA609 wiki). I think Bell wanted out because they were interested in a civilian version while the market for that tanked in '09. The
Sikorsky X2 is another competitor, not as far along.
Morgan EM-J (Extremely Maneuverable JetProp)
• unmanned UAV applications
• VIP transport
• mine detection and clearing roles
• off shore oil operation/ VIP transport/ fast supplies
• any mission where high cruise speed + VTOL is central
Thoughts on design-
• High wetted surface area (drag).
• Range won't be very good, maybe 700nm. Somewhat better for unmanned version.
• Lots of drag from rotor holes, need to cover those up in cruise.
• Pusher problems associated with dirty air such as noise and vibration.
• Dubious high speed potential due to the drag issues- fat inboard wing sections, etc.
Morgan EM-J website
