This spring Flight Crowd were invited to curate the Future of Flight Zone at Fully Charged LIVE UK 2022 show, which took place in Farnborough (29th Apr - 1st May 2022). With over 23 thousand visitors who attended the long weekend, Fully Charged LIVE is the world’s biggest electric vehicle and clean energy show.
To give the public a flavour of the future of flight, our zone offered an immersive and interactive experience of air mobility brought by some of our industry partners. The zone showcased a number of exciting developments in the air mobility ecosystem. The Flight Crowd team also delivered a range of activities to support the community's journey in learning about and shaping the future of flight.
Event Overview
Fully Charged LIVE 2022 has been referred to as ‘a festival of electrification’. Across the weekend, the public had the chance to experience a large selection of electric vehicles in a variety of ways, including driving test tracks, simulators, virtual reality, and much more. Visitors got to explore and try out battery technology, electric cars, buses, caravans, bikes, scooters, skateboards, and even aircraft. Overall the event brought together 23,222 visitors and more than 200 clean energy and electric vehicle exhibits.
“We were totally blown away by the turnout to this year’s Fully Charge LIVE. The passion, knowledge and thirst for information of our visitors is inspiring. We delivered thousands of electric vehicle test drives, packed out live theatre sessions discussing cleaner living, and offered more than 200 hours of free, independent consultancy to showgoers after home energy advice.” - Robert Llewellyn, Fully Charged joint CEO
For the first time at Fully Charged, the audience could experience the latest developments in electric flight brought by Flight Crowd. We believe aerial mobility will be a key part in the world of electric transportation, potentially benefiting emergency services, shortening travel times and creating boundless career opportunities. With the Future of Flight Zone, our aim was to inform, engage and inspire the audience on the current and future developments within air mobility.
Our Exhibitors
For the first time at Fully Charged LIVE, our zone showcased prototypes and working models of four different electric aircraft, all to give the public a taste of the future flight ecosystem. The display brought together a diverse variety of air mobility solutions, enabling the public to experience the industry developments for themselves.
TEKTowr
TEKTowr is an engineering solutions company and the sponsor of the Future of Flight Zone. They created an IMAX-style 360-degree immersive experience and demonstrated their latest SIMTwin and SIMTwin VR Experience technology. The public were taken on a virtual journey over London in an eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing vehicle). Attendees were able to experience flying first-hand while gaining confidence in the industry growth and global operations in the coming years.
Motion Robotics
Motion Robotics is a robotics company, specialising in automation and motor technology. They showcased live demonstrations of their automated parcel loading rover manoeuvring under their custom-built static drone to the public. The drone would load and unload the Rover using the wedge mechanism. Flight Crowd sees drones as an integral part of the future flight ecosystem; it's great to see robotics and future flight working together to benefit communities.
NEBOair
NEBOair is a UK-based, zero carbon emissions, sustainable and cost-effective micro air-service. The Pipistrel Aircraft Velis Electro is the first EASA Type certified light electric aircraft and was one of the key attractions of our Future of Flight Zone, with many getting the opportunity to sit inside the aircraft. You can book your flight tour between London, East Anglia and the Midlands with NEBOair now!
Airspeeder
Airspeeder is developing the world’s first racing series for crewed eVTOLs. At Fully Charged they showcased their Mk4 concept Speeder, accompanied by a 360 VR racing experience. Following their success in the world’s first eVTOL drag race, held in Australia in 2021, Airspeeder are working towards their first piloted grand prix in 2023. People were intrigued by this eVTOL application, appreciating the variety of electric aircraft missions.
Orca Aerospace
Orca Aerospace are developing an eVTOL with a focus on emergency medical service applications. To help visualise their concept, they brought a 3D-printed, scaled-down model of their eVTOL. According to the EASA public engagement study, medical aid is one of the most supported solutions of air mobility by the public.
Panel Discussions
The show was accompanied by over 50 different panel discussions, which were scheduled throughout the weekend. Taking place in the Mega and Giga theatres, the discussions focused on electric vehicles, micromobility, charging facilities, and much more. Flight Crowd’s Founder, Mariya Tarabanovska, took part in two of these panels:
‘When will electric flight come to land?’
Alongside Sergey Gravchev (NEBOAir), Paul Andrews (Airspeeder) and Celeste Goschen (Wilderley), Mariya discussed how electric flight will integrate with future transportation, hosted by Imogen Pierce. The panellists talked about the passenger experience of flying in an electric aircraft, women in aviation, challenges regarding battery weight, and much more. Mariya also highlighted the role of eVTOL technology in future cities and how its applications go beyond air taxis. You can watch the full panel discussion here.
‘Planes, Trains & Nautical Vessels’
Hosted by Robert Llewellyn, Julian Fletcher (Vivarail), Sophie Robinson (Vertical Aerospace), Tim Morris (UK Major Ports Group) and Mariya discussed how electric energy and battery technology is being scaled up and used for larger transportation solutions. The panellists also talked about how the public can engage with their respective sectors, encouraging the young community to seek career opportunities within this ecosystem.
Gallery
All photos in the article are courtesy of Flight Crowd
To read about Flight Crowd’s stand at Fully Charged LIVE UK 2022, including our mood board, survey and video collage, have a read of Part II of this article!