Military-Inspired Butterfly eVTOL Starts Testing Its Groundbreaking Propulsion System

“Think down-sized military transport, not an up-sized drone” – this is certainly an intriguing description for an eVTOL, and the reason behind it is that Butterfly is the “child” of one of the drone age founding fathers, Abe Karem. He was one of the drone pioneers in the ‘80s who helped develop several unmanned military aerial vehicles. Overair is his fourth company to date, and Butterfly was born as a result of his extensive career in this field.

Instead of smaller propellers distributed on the wings and tail, this eVTOL uses four bigger ones that can spin slowly. This means less power required for hover flight which enables Butterfly to operate in various weather conditions, increases its payload capacity, and it makes it the quietest in its class. With enough room for five passengers plus cargo, this unmanned aircraft can hit 200 mph (322 kph) and claims a 100-mile (161 km) range.

As we know, the eVTOL development process is one that takes a lot of time and money, but the Butterfly has made a significant step forward as it kicked off full-scale propulsion system tests. Overair will be submitting the system to some very harsh aerodynamic conditions in order to simulate real-world operations. The perfect place to do that is the Sothern California desert, and a recent video gives us a glimpse into these advanced tests.

The company’s main goal is to launch the first prototype flight by 2023. It will still take a while to obtain the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification, but the innovative Butterfly is expected to officially take to the sky in four years from now.