Bloomfield-based aerospace manufacturer Kaman Corp. has been chosen to build a high-speed, vertical take off-enabled aircraft officials with the project’s contracting company say could revolutionize regional city-to-city travel.
Kaman will build the Vy 400 for Transcend Air Corp., a startup aimed at developing direct transport between built-up city centers that are normally off-limits to large passenger aircraft, which need long, unobstructed runways to take flight.
The Vy 400 can take off and land in a vertical fashion, Transcend officials said, and travels over 400 miles per hour, allowing the plane to fly from Manhattan to Boston in 36 minutes.
“Because of the Vy’s high speed, we can complete many more passenger trips per aircraft,” said Transcend CEO Gregory Bruell. “The combination of that with [vertical take off and landing] is key to our revolutionary economics, and Kaman will be key to us scaling up production to meet the huge demand that our mass market fares will drive.”
Financial details of the agreement between Kaman and Transcend were not released.
Last week, Transcend announced that it had selected GE Aviation, a competitor of Pratt & Whitney, as the Vy 400’s engine supplier.
