CAFE EAS 2019 #21 - Rob Bulaga - GoFly Prize & FlyKart 2

Rob Bulaga, President, Trek Aerospace
ELECTRIC AIRCRAFT eVTOL & eCTOL PANEL

Rob Bulaga has spent the past 20 years building ducted propellers for the aerospace industry, including his own company, and built his first electric powered drone in 2005.

Many of the projects Trek supported never advanced, so a few years ago Trek decided to design a small fun aircraft that would showcase its technology. A flying car was a little too ambitious so Bulaga decided to build a flying go-cart, which is how the FlyKart 1 came into being in 2016 .

Bulaga says the goal of FlyKart 1 was to build something that could fit into a one-car garage, be built as a kit for under $20,000, and be assembled in a weekend. It is six and half feet in diameter and weights 225 lb, and can fly a 175 lb person for about 20 minutes. (The actual prototype cost less than $16,000 in parts and took less than a month to assemble.)

"When the GoFly content came out, their requirements were so close to what we were already doing that we knew we had to compete in GoFly."

Bulaga outlined the goal of GoFly and the prizes associated with Phase 1, Phase 2 and Phase 3 of the competition, as well as how the scoring takes place.

FlyKart 2 was one of 10 winners of Phase 1 of the GoFly competition and one of five winners of Phase 2.

The GoFly Phase 3 fly off will take place in early 2020 in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Bulaga says there are five enabling technologies that have made FlyKart 2 possible.

- Structures
- Batteries
- Motors
- Propulsion
- Controls

Biography
Rob Bulaga has been coming to the CAFE EAS since 2013. With over 40-years experience in the aerospace industry as a designer and aerodynamicist, he’s worked on a myriad of projects, ranging from human-powered vehicles to hypersonic aircraft. Bulaga developed the CFD model used to design Trek Aerospace’s ducted propellers. Besides designing Trek’s various aircraft, Bulaga has also been the test pilot on them.

An avid pilot, Bulaga is a longtime member of the EAA and has served as president of his local EAA Chapter. Rob and his team are competing in the GoFly Challenge with their FlyKart 2, which has been one of the winners in both Phase 1 and Phase 2 of that challenge.

[hersheykiss]

Great job, great talk. Wish I could see the FlyKart in action.

[ouhnishqpirali]

Hey Bob I love the vertical takeoff but I would love to have a Thrust on the back push that what you needed to do
Why not bring your project to nust pak
We will degsin for you even less then a half money you have spent
Love your work and thank you for explaining man ❤❤