Electric Air Taxi Completes Maiden Flight At 70kph

UK startup Vertical Aerospace has achieved a significant milestone as its electric flying taxi, the VX4, successfully completed its first fully detached flight at Cotswold Airport in southwest England. The prototype flew at a speed of approximately 70 km/h and was remotely controlled using electric batteries. The flight marks another milestone for Vertical, which completed a smaller tethered hover test with the VX4 in September last year. Vertical said it will continue to test the aircraft with the intention of performing a piloted flight in the future. The company previously said it would achieve certification by 2025 but pushed this back to the end of 2026 after reviewing the programme’s timeline.

Aerospace firms including Rolls-Royce Holdings, Honeywell and GKN Ltd are working with Vertical to create the eight-propeller VX4. Vertical has raked in more than 1,400 pre-orders with customers such as Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd, American Airlines Group Inc, and Avolon Holdings Ltd.