Vertical Aerospace’s Final Full-Scale eVTOL Prototype Completes First Piloted Flight
Vertical’s latest and final full-scale prototype completed its maiden piloted flight at the company’s UK Flight Test Centre.
(London, U.K. & New York, N.Y.) Vertical Aerospace (NYSE: EVTL) announced today (Jun. 9) that the company’s latest and final full-scale electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) prototype vehicle completed its maiden piloted flight at the company’s U.K. Flight Test Centre.
Image of Vertical Aerospace’s full-scale eVTOL prototype courtesy of Vertical Aerospace.
Per Vertical, the flight followed the issuance of a new Permit to Fly from the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) after extensive ground testing and aircraft validation activities.
The new prototype is the final aircraft to join Vertical’s flight test fleet before the Company completes Critical Design Review (CDR), a program milestone that establishes the design baseline for certification, according to Vertical.
Following the completion of all flight test phases – thrustborne, wingborne and transition flight – in its all-electric configuration, Vertical intends to retrofit this latest prototype for hybrid-electric flight testing, according to today’s press release from the company.
Following CDR, Vertical will begin preparations for assembly of its first pre-production aircraft.
“Getting our latest prototype into flight testing is an important milestone because it allows us to learn faster in real world conditions and keep building momentum towards certification. Expanding the flight test fleet will help us validate the aircraft more quickly, reduce risk, and move more efficiently towards bringing Valo into service,” said Vertical Aerospace CEO Stuart Simpson.
