Flight Taxi

Over the past 12 month, the firm has built a slippery looking, full-size demonstration DVTOL engine, received Civil Aviation Authority test flight approval, and has flown it over Cotswold Airport in Kimble, GL. "F1's development of light-weight construction material, air dynamics and electric system are very well suited for airplanes, much more than for traffic.

Placing these techniques in the skilled hands of aviation and space engineering experts will enable us to construct top-of-the-range aeroplanes for the twenty-first century." Nothing too much has been said about the three-wheeled, battery-powered demonstration, except that it weights 750 kg, has four three-blade rotor blades in a two-to-two arrangement that raise it into the sky, and it is currently said that it can only go up for 5 min, but can go up to 80 km/h (50 mph) ahead.

The main emphasis of the introduction of the prototypes, however, was not on reach and velocity, but on proof of the full-scale design. Already with the first remote-controlled flight in its pocket, the airline is working with the European Aviation Safety Agency to get its next type certification as part of a wider aviation taxi pilot aviation scheme to fly VTOL electrical planes on short-haul flights by 2022.

Meanwhile, Vertical Aerospace will further enhance the existing technologies to expand the reach of the vessel, incorporate autonomy into the designs and expand the service paths throughout the UK. The maximum operating speeds of DVTOLs are projected to fluctuate around the 320 km/h barrier, with an early operating distance of between 160 and 225 km (100 and 140 miles) ultimately allowing up to 500 mile per load.

Vertical Aerospace is of course not the only firm that deals with the vitality of short-range aerial taxi aircraft, with Rolls-Royce, Aston Martin and Transcend Aerospace Corporation among the many companies currently offering such service. Below is a brief movie showing more about the DVTOL pilot and the test flight.