Flight Sciences Engineer

Job description

At Elroy Air, we build autonomous vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) cargo drones to change the way the world moves goods. Transporting cargo by air is faster and more direct than by land or sea, but it has been prohibitively expensive for medium-size loads. We've set out to expand middle-mile logistics possibilities across multiple sectors, with our sights on a $420Bn global total addressable market for cargo logistics across defense, commercial and rapid response. We are a team of builders, engineers, and operators who believe that the defense, commercial, and rapid response communities need faster, better logistics solutions. We are seeing increasing demand as customers and prospects respond enthusiastically to the systems we’ve built. As we mature and deploy our offerings, we are looking for people like you: motivated collaborators, enthusiastic about our mission and ready to roll up their sleeves and make a big impact to improve how logistics works around the world. You will play an important role in establishing the Elroy Air Chaparral as the industry standard in this massive market. We believe diverse perspectives at all levels of the organization are critical to innovation and employee development. This includes but is not limited to gender identity, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender expression, religion, age, ability, parenthood status, veteran status, educational background, citizenship status, or any combination of these characteristics. As a Flight Sciences Engineer at Elroy Air, you will own performance analysis, flight dynamics, and configuration trades across our hybrid-electric lift+cruise VTOL program. You will be the analytical backbone of the vehicle team — reasoning across hover, transition, and cruise regimes, and working directly with propulsion, structures, and controls engineers to drive decisions from early concept through certification. ### What you’ll own: - Own vehicle performance modeling across hover, transition, and cruise: mission analysis, hybrid-electric energy management, climb optimization, and range/endurance trades - Build and maintain 6-DOF flight dynamics models for a lift+cruise configuration: aero database construction through the transition corridor, rotor-wing interaction modeling, stability derivatives, and trim analysis in hover, transition, and cruise - Contribute to vehicle design trades: feed flight sciences insight into OML shaping, drag reduction, control surface sizing, and flight controls architecture to close performance and handling qualities requirements - Derive external flight loads across the operational envelope and collaborate with the structures team to define limit and ultimate load cases, support fatigue analysis, and feed aeroelastic models - Support flight test planning, instrumentation requirements, and post-flight data reduction and analysis; correlate measured performance against analytical predictions - Build and improve simulation environments used for envelope expansion, handling qualities assessment, and controls development - Partner with propulsion and power teams to integrate hybrid-electric powertrain models into mission analysis; define power-required envelopes and binding constraints across the flight profile - Contribute to certification planning by authoring compliance analyses, performance substantiation reports, and supporting V&V documentation ### Our Ideal Candidate - B.S. or M.S. in Aerospace Engineering or a closely related field - 5+ years of meaningful hands-on experience in flight sciences, vehicle performance, or flight dynamics - Proficiency in vehicle performance modeling: energy-based methods, point-mass and full 6-DOF simulation, power-required/available analysis - Experience building or working with aerodynamic databases and stability derivative sets for flight simulation or loads analysis - Familiarity with flight test methods: test card development, FTI requirements, data reduction, and prediction-to-flight correlation - Strong programming skills in Python and/or MATLAB for analysis, post-processing, and tool development - Solid understanding of fixed-wing, rotary-wing, or hybrid lift+cruise vehicle aeromechanics - Working proficiency with aerodynamic analysis tools across fidelity levels — from low-order methods (panel codes, blade element, XFOIL) through mid-fidelity (RANS CFD): sufficient to set up runs, interpret results, and interface with dedicated CFD engineers - Clear technical communication skills: able to distill complex analysis into concise summaries for engineering and program leadership ### Bonus Points For: - Direct experience with eVTOL, tiltrotor, or lift+cruise configurations — including transition corridor analysis, transition schedule definition, and rotor-wing aerodynamic interaction - Background in hybrid-electric propulsion performance modeling: energy management strategy, battery sizing trades, and BSFC/TSFC integration into mission analysis - Experience designing internal flows, including ducting, intakes, and cooling flows - Rotor and/or propeller design experience - Handling qualities assessment experience using ADS-33 or FAA/EASA equivalents - Exposure to flight simulation environments: JSBSim, Simulink/FlightGear, or equivalent - Experience with certification under FAA Part 23, Part 27, or EASA SC-VTOL frameworks - Background in aeroelastics or structural loads as they relate to flight envelope definition ### What We Offer: - Competitive salary - Equity ownership in a rapidly growing advanced aerospace company - Comprehensive medical benefits - 401(k) with company contribution + Roth IRA - Free daily lunch provided onsite - Flexible time-off policy - 3 months of paid parental leave - Employee assistance program with 24/7 support - High-impact startup environment with significant ownership and autonomy - Opportunities for rapid career growth and internal advancement - You’ll work with a motivated, kind, and highly skilled team - You'll help shape and define our company culture and values - You'll help build and scale a new category of aerospace / logistics technology