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Vertical Aerospace has commenced test flights with its second full-scale prototype of the VX4 eVTOL aircraft. On July 26, the UK company reported that the aircraft executed a tethered flight at Kemble Airport in the west of England.
According to Vertical, more than 20,000 flight and system parameters were measured during the initial flight, verifying thrust, handling qualities, and system performance. The aircraft was piloted by the company’s chief test pilot Justin Paines.
The second VX4 prototype features a 20% greater power-to-weight ratio than the first prototype. This supports Vertical’s objective that production versions of the four-passenger aircraft will be able to cruise at 130 knots on flights of up to around 87 nautical miles. For this version, 60% of the technology and components have come from program partners including GKN Aerospace, Hanwha, Honeywell, Leonardo, Molicel, and Synesqo.
