The Hummingbird is a civil jet-powered air rescue VTOL concept — the first of its kind. Two internally mounted turbofan engines replace the conventional rotor, enabling up to three times the speed of a standard rescue helicopter, while keeping all moving parts safely enclosed within the fuselage.
backview
hummingbird - in forward flight
heliport - Sized to operate from standard helipad infrastructure, the Hummingbird requires no dedicated facilities. Its compact footprint makes it compatible with hospital rooftop pads and urban emergency landing zones.
hangar - Despite its performance envelope, the Hummingbird fits within standard helicopter hangar dimensions, simplifying integration into existing rescue aviation infrastructure.
space concept -The interior was redesigned from the ground up. A pilot seat forward, two medical crew positions, and a fully accessible patient stretcher give the medical team the working space they need — all within a footprint no larger than a Eurocopter EC-135.
city - Whether navigating dense urban environments or covering vast rural distances, the Hummingbird's speed advantage is where it matters most. With all rotating parts enclosed within the fuselage, it can operate from street canyons, tight courtyards, and improvised landing zones where a conventional rotor would turn a rescue mission into a disaster of its own. Lifting off vertically from virtually any flat surface, it pivots its rear nozzles to transition seamlessly into forward flight — cutting both the response time to the incident and the critical transfer to the hospital to a fraction of what a conventional rescue helicopter requires.
concept 1 - A late-stage concept study, already very close to the final design in proportions and interior layout. The panoramic cabin area was still being evaluated at this point — it was later reduced in favor of a more structured fuselage shell. The upward-pointing winglets are the most visible detail that changed in the final selection.
concept 1 - The same late-stage concept explored from a different angle, showing the engine pod integration and the panoramic wraparound window zone. The crew layout and overall silhouette are nearly identical to the final design — the key decisions still open at this stage were the winglet direction and the extent of the transparent cabin surface.
technical details - A landing gear kinematics study evaluating how a four-wheel undercarriage — two at the front, two at the rear — could retract cleanly into the compact fuselage. The front gear uses a conventional fold-in mechanism similar to standard aircraft undercarriages, while the rear gear operates on a sliding retraction system. The crew, patient, and engine positions are shown as reference context, illustrating the tight envelope the entire mechanism had to work within.
engine - The twin-turbofan propulsion unit features vectored rear nozzles that pivot up to 90° for vertical takeoff and landing, fixed forward nozzles integrated into the wing structure, secondary air intakes for the approach phase, and a bypass channel routing cold air around the turbine core.
workshop - The physical scale model was milled from hard polyurethane foam on a CNC machine, then hand-assembled, finished, and painted to achieve an aircraft-grade surface quality. The result captures the refined surface transitions and overall proportions of the final design with a level of detail that digital renders alone cannot convey.
ideation - The ideation phase focused on the core tension of the brief: an aircraft that performs like a jet but operates like a helicopter. Form studies examined how to visually communicate both capabilities simultaneously.
sketches - Sketches explored the relationship between the engine housing, cockpit volume, and wing geometry. The distinctive nose-heavy silhouette emerged early and remained consistent through all development phases.
sketches
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hummingbird - Rescue VTOL
hummingbird - The „Hummingbird“ is a air-rescue vehicle and the first of its kind in the sector of civil jet powered vertical take-off aircrafts. To reduce risks all moving engine parts are inside the aircraft. In comparison to a helicopter the 2 turbofan-engines allow a up to 3 times higher speed. A new interior concept gives the medical crew more space to medicate the patient and the pilot a better few. With all these extras the „Hummingbird“ is not bigger than a Eurocopter EC-135.