In 2022, Alasdair Aegerter founded YEET Aerospace Ltd. As an aerospace engineer, Alasdair wanted to pursue the potential of new technology that he feels will be successful on a global scale. YEET is developing a super-efficient electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft capable of high-speed, long-range, long-endurance flight.
YEET’s first prototype, the ‘plane-o-copter’, is a scalable hybrid; it combines the speed, range and payload of a fixed-wing airplane, with the ability to land anywhere like a helicopter. Its large coaxial propeller means that it is very efficient, can lift heavy loads, and fly long distances. The simple design also enables it to be relatively easy and inexpensive to produce.
Alasdair feels that his eVTOL would be most useful, and would have most demand, in unpiloted drone applications, rather than carrying passengers or cargo. The primary applications could be in marine surveillance, oceanography, ecology, agriculture, and infrastructure monitoring.
Alasdair joined the Regional Talent Engines programme in 2023. He says: “The grant is helping fund the prototyping, and the courses are upskilling me. It is educating me on so many different important aspects of building tech, including starting a company, leadership, and commercialising the technology.”
YEET’s current plane-o-copter prototypes are between 500g and 3kg. Alasdair feels that full-scale commercially ready versions of this aircraft will need to be between 8kg and 25kg with a two-metre wingspan. Different variants will be available for customers with different requirements. The company is now looking to raise private funding and make the leap from a technology demonstrator to a fully-fledged service.
