Solvay will supply composites, adhesives and technical support for UAM Italian company Novotech’s Seagull and future aircraft
Alpharetta, June 24, 2021
Solvay is partnering with Italian UAM company Novotech and will provide access to its range of thermoset, thermoplastic composites and adhesive materials as well as dedicated technical support to develop the structure of their hybrid Seagull water landing aircraft second prototype due to fly late 2021.
Novotech selected Solvay’s aerospace qualified and NCAMP registered MTM® 45-1 and CYCOM® 5320-1 resin systems. These two products have an aerospace pedigree system with a large publicly available dataset, process flexibility and product forms required to enable rapid adoption and time to market.
“Solvay is proud to support Novotech with our qualified aerospace technologies as they make inroads in the urban air mobility field, developing novel aircraft that will contribute to a sustainable future for mobility” said Gerald Perrin, program director for Solvay's composite materials unit.
“The Seagull is the first two seater aircraft featuring carbon fiber composite components manufactured via Automated Fiber Placement (AFP) rather than via manual processes. The introduction of such advanced automated production processes represents a first step towards the development of scalable products for a viable UAM environment” said Leonardo Lecce, CEO of Novotech.
The composite intensive Seagull is a hybrid aircraft, boasting an automatic folding wing system, capable of both landing and taking off from lakes and sea thanks to its trimaran hull configuration, thus enabling a low cost air-maritime mobility system.
Novotech is already working on its next program: a fully electric eVTOL (electric vertical take off and landing) aircraft and Solvay will be a key partner in the selection of enabling composite and adhesive materials. This next aircraft will be able to carry four passengers, have a cruise speed of 150 to 180 km/hr and a range of 200 to 400 km.
Urban Air Mobility (UAM) is an emerging market that will revolutionize the transportation and aviation industry. These innovative platforms, hybrid or fully electric, will accelerate the transition to sustainable, on demand, passenger and cargo air transit. The benefits of UAM encompass delivery of essential services to remote rural locations to decongesting large metropolitan cities across the globe.
About Solvay
Solvay is a science company whose technologies bring benefits to many aspects of daily life. With more than 23,000 employees in 64 countries, Solvay bonds people, ideas and elements to reinvent progress. The Group seeks to create sustainable shared value for all, notably through its Solvay One Planet plan crafted around three pillars: protecting the climate, preserving resources and fostering better life. The Group’s innovative solutions contribute to safer, cleaner, and more sustainable products found in homes, food and consumer goods, planes, cars, batteries, smart devices, health care applications, water and air purification systems. Founded in 1863, Solvay today ranks among the world’s top three companies for the vast majority of its activities and delivered net sales of €9 billion in 2020. Solvay is listed on Euronext Brussels (SOLB) and Paris and in the United States, where its shares (SOLVY) are traded through a Level I ADR program. Learn more at www.solvay.com.
