Photo: AutoFlight
In many of this planet’s countries, 155 miles (250 km) is a relatively short distance, and often all that separates two of their major cities. It’s a distance some of us have to cover on a daily basis, so nothing spectacular when it comes to ground transportation. For the world of electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) machines, though, it is now the new barrier to breach.
eVTOLs are without a doubt a type of technology that will reshape our world. Not yet powerful enough to determine companies to switch from making cars to making aircraft, they are potent enough to fuel the dreams of countless start-ups.
One of these start-ups is called AutoFlight. Using German engineering and Chinese manufacturing, these guys plan to be at the forefront of their field with something called Prosperity.
Previewed in prototype form more than a year ago, when it managed to achieve the transition from vertical to horizontal flight, it’s a multi-propeller machine capable of carrying up to four people, pilot included.
As per the specs now available, it can carry 900 pounds (408 kg), and it can travel for a maximum of 155 miles (250 km). It’s exactly that maximum range (a little more, actually) the Prosperity managed to reach.
It did so back in February, at the company’s testing facility, but the achievement was only made public this week. The flight test consisted of 20 circuits of the area being flown on a predefined flight track. The eVTOL was not crewed, but controlled from the ground, and was in the air for one hour and 38 minutes.
Photo: AutoFlight
You can have a look at the achievement in the video attached below, and you should watch that very carefully, as it shows, for the first time, the fourth design iteration of the Prosperity. That might not seem like much if you haven’t seen the others, but you should know this one was drawn by Frank Stephenson.
And you might be much more familiar with this guy’s work. After all, he did work for companies like Ford, Ferrari, or McLaren, as his ideas currently roam our streets in the form of the BMW X5, Ferrari F430, Maserati MC12, and the McLaren MP4-12C and the P1, among many others.
Back to the Prosperity, it’s unclear when the eVTOL will become available for air taxi companies and other uses, but AutoFlight hopes to get the airworthiness certification from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) in 2025. Until then, testing will continue, and we’ll keep an eye on the Prosperity to see what it does next.
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