Advanced Air Mobility Company Unveils “SHIFT Compson”, a High-Speed, Autonomous Aircraft

Advanced Air Mobility company ‘This Is Engineering Inc.’ (“TIE”) has unveiled SHIFT Compson, a high-speed autonomous AAM vehicle. On June 4, TIE unveiled the performance and specifications of the SHIFT Compson, an AAM aircraft that has successfully completed the airframe development process, and is now undergoing factory assembly. On the same day, the company also announced its test flight plan for the prototype within the year and a roadmap for the development of a commercial aircraft.

The SHIFT Compson is a combination of TIE’s own flight control technology and aircraft design. It is designed to achieve a top speed of 330 km/h and a flight distance of more than 280 km. It can carry five people and is a ‘vertical take-off and landing’(eVTOL) aircraft. The SHIFT Compson boasts a significantly higher level of safety performance than other airplanes, including instantaneous control response and maneuverability, turning radius, and braking distance, and is designed to be less affected by weather conditions.

Currently, there are three types of vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft being developed overseas: ‘multirotor’, ‘lift & cruise’, and ‘tiltrotor’. They all have disadvantages such as slow flight speed, low cruise efficiency, high maintenance costs, and vulnerability to gusts of wind. TIE explained that the SHIFT Compson’s technology can address the shortcomings of each of these models and maximize their advantages.

The SHIFT Compson has better maneuverability than a multirotor, while maximizing flight stability and minimizing noise and manufacturing and maintenance costs. In addition, the SHIFT Compson commercial aircraft will be equipped with TIE’s autonomous flight technology, including omnidirectional obstacle recognition and avoidance, as well as other technologies for passenger safety.

Since its founding in 2016, TIE has collaborated with aeronautical engineers on technologies such as aerodynamic analysis and structural design, and with robotics engineers on areas such as sensor fusion, control, and machine learning. The company has also recruited manufacturing engineers from the aerospace and electronics sectors, to focus on the company’s technological development over the past seven years.

“AAM is the inevitable outcome of growing demand and technological advancements,” said Hong Yoo-jung, CEO of TIE. “Many companies around the world have already unveiled and developed several concepts of AAM. However, there seemed to be something lacking to commercialize their models.” Hong went on, “The SHIFT Compson is designed to address the shortcomings in existing solutions to commercialize AAM, while ensuring safety and increasing efficiency to optimal levels in urban environments. TIE’s AAM technology will continue to evolve and the SHIFT Compson will become the standard for what mobility looks like in the future. TIE strives to drive change in people’s lives with innovative technologies. And we are ready to become a world-class company.”

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