The Flying Sunfish Takes Flight, Logs 4 Minutes of Untethered Flight Time

Zeva has completed the first untethered flight test for its Zero flying wing airframe, where the aircraft took off and flew under its 8 electric propellers. With the first flight completed, the Zero now boasts the bragging rights of being a functional, real aircraft, with flight time in its logbook in an industry rife with ground demonstrators and digital renders. 

The flight is an important milestone in the airworthiness certification process, proving the unmanned demonstrator could take off and maintain position in a controlled hover, as well as taxi, climb, and maneuver at low altitude. The pancake-ish single-pilot aircraft is an unusual addition to the eVTOL race, sporting a prone pilot position that takes off and lands on its tail. Zeva hopes that sleek design opens doors for the Zero among high-flying corporate businesses looking for a single occupant runabout to fly right to the side of their skyscraper. Few alternatives have a plan to build similarly compact low-footprint landing pads, often requiring flat and wide rooftop heliports. 

“This is a huge inflection point for ZEVA as we join an exclusive set of proven flying eVTOL platforms, and a testament to the relentless hard work and ingenuity of our entire team over the past two and half years,” said Stephen Tibbitts, CEO and Chairman of ZEVA. “We are dissecting our learnings from our critical first taxiing flight, which is a direct result of the support we’ve received from our investors and community, leading us to bring in additional talent to spearhead this historic moment. We are eager to continue to our next stage of hover flight testing on our road to certification and eventual autonomous flight allowing anyone, not just pilots, to access zero-emission point-to-point travel.”

FMI:www.zevaaero.com