Video Released Of Aircraft Hovering At Facility In Donauwörth, Germany

The CityAirbus eVTOL quad-rotor aircraft has completed its first flight at the Airbus facility in Donauwörth, Germany. Free flight testing follows the first tethered flight of the aircraft in May of last year.

CityAirbus released a video of the first test flight.

According to Airbus, CityAirbus is an all-electric, four-seat, multicopter vehicle demonstrator that focuses on advancing remotely piloted electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) flight.

CityAirbus has a multicopter configuration that features four ducted high-lift propulsion units. Its eight propellers are driven by electric motors at around 950 rpm to ensure a low acoustic footprint. The single failure tolerant architecture ensures safety. Its cruise speed will be approximately 120 Km/h (65 knots) on fixed routes with up to 15 minutes of autonomy. It has a capacity of four passengers that is ideal for aerial urban ridesharing.

To date, the CityAirbus sub-scale model has flown more than 100 test flights, which has proven the aerodynamic configuration of the full-scale prototype.

The CityAirbus is one of two eVTOL aircraft developed by Airbus. The other, called Vahana wrapped up its flight test campaign in November.

(Image from video provided by Airbus)

FMI: Video