This Clever Engine Will Revolutionise Flight： Problem Solved!

Whilst working as a propulsion engineer, I got hooked on propeller advancements, so I just had to dig deeper when I heard about a startup claiming to reinvent how aeroplanes are designed. I even treated myself to WhisperAero's technical conference paper after they ignored all my messages and emails. The paper unveils the WhisperDrive's core technology and I'll be passing on all the best bits to you, the lovely viewer. I respect your time so let's get straight The genius of WhisperAero is a multidisciplinary approach that brings aerodynamics, propulsion and acoustics together, instead of treating them as separate problems. With decades of cumulative experience at places like NASA, Lockheed Martin and Rolls-Royce, the team is well-placed to use advanced computing and engineering to solve what Dr Mark Moore, the CEO, says is one of the most complex analysis problems, noise. Dr Mark Moore has an extensive engineering background, including the development of an all-electric flying puffin, which he started during his PhD and continued to work on at NASA. Although it didn't appear to get past the one-third scale testing, it shows his out-of-the-box thinking for electric aviation. The WhisperDrive is a new type of electric ducted fan, but not like ones I'd seen before. An electric ducted fan, or EDF, in essence, is a high-speed fan enclosed in a duct, where the geometry of both blades and housing work together to accelerate airflow and produce thrust. In aerospace terms, once the thrust propels a vehicle, it earns the title of being an engine. Where conventional ducted fans mostly focus on pushing the air, the WhisperDrive really focuses on shaping it. Every contour, blade profile and duct geometry have been tuned to manipulate flow with surgical precision. The result, according to its creators, is a design that fundamentally changes how electricity becomes thrust. Now this is the EQ250, the largest of the WhisperDrive family. At 10 inches, or 25 centimeters in diameter, and capable of 70 pound-force of thrust, it's made up of a few core components like the fan, stator, motor and integrated ducting. The rotating fan looks like a solid disc from the front because it's packed with many small stiff blades. The exact number of blades is still under wraps, but WhisperAero just call it a high blade count. Conventional fans have blades that are only attached to the hub and extend outwards. However, the blades on WhisperAero's fan connect into a shroud or outer ring, much like the spokes in a wheel. The shroud around the outside adds strength and rigidity, preventing the thin and tightly packed blades from flexing or hitting each other when spinning at high speeds. By connecting the blade tips together, the shroud reduces unwanted vortices that cause noise and inefficiencies. The high RPM and dense blade count also drive up the blade passage frequency, which is the rate at which blades sweep past a fixed point. You can measure this by counting how many times a blade passes the 12 o'clock point every minute. You can imagine that adding more blades or making it spin faster would increase the number of blades counted each minute. By pushing the blade passage frequency higher and higher, it means that the noise produced is also much higher, above 16,000 kHz, and that becomes out of the range of human hearing, making it appear much quieter than it actually is. After being blown by the rotating fan, the air goes through the WhisperDrive's stator. The stator has fixed angled veins, or fins, that channel the swirling air into a straighter flow so that the rotational energy can be converted into forward thrust. Apparently, this allows thrust to be pointed directly where you want it to go, making the system more efficient. Integrated between the fan and the stator, the DC electric motor is the silent powerhouse of WhisperDrive. It's said to be a low-noise design, but without more information, I assume it's similar to the brushless DC motors in high-performance drones, probably using permanent magnets. The ducting that surrounds the fan, stator, and motor core does more than just house the fan assembly. It orchestrates the airflow. It is a meticulously engineered aerodynamic and acoustic component. By optimising the ratios between the exhaust and fan areas, the team ensured that the air is accelerated smoothly and with minimal turbulence. According to the company, the unit is also acoustically treated, meaning it can absorb any of the waves that are still in the audible range. So, in total, these components come together to form the highly efficient and quiet electric engines, and the plan is for these to be cleverly integrated into aircraft. The specialised electric ducted fans can apparently be integrated directly into the leading edge of a plane's wing, right where the airflow first hits. This is unusual because it's a critical aerodynamic surface, and traditional fans would cause too much disruption and noise. But the WhisperDrives are said to be quiet and clean enough, probably referring to the airflow, to not only survive in this location, but also actively improve the wing's performance. According to their reports, the slow-moving air that would be at the leading edge is re-energised, which reduces drag, boosts lift, and lowers the overall power needed for propulsion. This sounds brilliant, but how are WhisperAero getting on in the real world? And if you're enjoying this video, please consider subscribing, it's free and helps the channel a lot. WhisperAero reports impressive gains in quietness and efficiency. The mid-sized models measured around 35 decibels at 100 feet, about the same as rustling leaves in a park. They claim this is about 20% quieter than existing ducted fans. Simulations and testing suggest an overall aerodynamic efficiency of 92%, up from 60-80% for most conventional fan systems. Around 7% of this jump comes solely from the shroud that covers the tips of the blades, reducing those tip vortices. Out of the simulations, flight tests include a demonstrator drone, which was reportedly inaudible to humans as it flew above them. And beyond aviation, the tech has been adapted to a Black & Decker prototype leaf blower, delivering 40% more airflow with 40% less energy, and 16 decibels less noise than major brands. I don't imagine this is where they saw their technology going, but it's an interesting use case that gives us some real-world evidence of their work. Then there is the Whisper Ultralight Glider, which is a commercial glider retrofitted with twin electric fan engines. It is set for its first flight in late 2025 to gather manned aviation data. Into the future, Whisper Aero's vision for its propulsion technology extends across a spectrum of applications, from military logistics to long-haul commercial flight. Some very captivating images are circulating around showing their jetfoil design, with the plans for integrating it into larger aircraft over the coming decades. The challenges for a project like this are numerous, with cost and certification being huge barriers. It seems like their plans to be a parts supplier rather than a complete aircraft manufacturer might be a smart move here. They've also heavily used simulations to cut development cycles by around 50%, meaning they've been able to prototype ideas in months instead of years. There's a great interview on the Airframe Substack with the CEO Mark Moore that basically says it doesn't matter how brilliant your plane is if it's too expensive to operate. He believes that the real-world truth of a plane's success hinges not on its specs, but on its economic and community acceptance, citing how backlash over noise can doom an otherwise viable business, as Walmart's DroneUp program found out. For Mark Moore, the ultimate challenge is making electric aviation a cost-effective and welcomed solution, a mission he weights equally with the engineering itself. It's great to see what systems-level engineering empowered by advanced computer simulations are giving us. I also love to see a CEO focused on serving a market and the economics rather than just the dreams of what could be. If you're interested in designing systems from a hobby to professional level or using simulations to help you save money in the design process, then the first thing you'll need is a good 3D modelling service, which is why I'm happy to introduce today's sponsor, Onshape. If you are an engineer, tinkerer, or part of a business looking for an incredible computer-aided design solution, then you need to check out Onshape, a professional-grade CAD and product data management system designed to revolutionise how you design and manage your products. Imagine secure, real-time collaboration, multiple people working on the same design at once. No more crashes, no lost data, and no need for an IT team. Onshape tracks every change automatically with infinite restore capabilities, and its branching and merging features, similar to Git, make merging complex designs effortless. Plus, it runs on any device, from computers to tablets, so you can work anywhere, anytime. For you viewers in the US, Onshape just launched Onshape Government, a version specifically tailored for companies needing regulatory compliance, like ITAR and EAR. And unlike traditional CAD software, Onshape is built entirely in the cloud, accessible directly from your browser, meaning no matter who you are, you can get set up in minutes. Sign up for Onshape today, and get up to 6 months of the professional version for free at onshape.pro.com