ANN’s Rex Alexander spoke with Michael Thompson, CEO of SkyFly, at the 2025 EAA AirVenture Air Show and Fly-in in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Thompson said they refer to the aircraft they call the Axe as a VCA or vertically capable aircraft because its two large wings enable it to take off and land like a conventional airplane as well as vertically using only rotor lift.
Thompson noted that the Axe is intended for personal ownership customers rather than the commercial air taxi market.
The two-seat aircraft technically has a canard and a wing that are both 5 m / 16 ft in length, with the forward canard having a narrower chord than the main wing. Each wingtip has two electric motors for redundancy, so if one motor fails the other one immediately takes over to power the rotors that are mounted at a 45-degree fixed angle relative to the wing.
The two motors generate a combined 50 kW continuous and 70 kW peak power output. Power is fully electric and SkyFly also makes a hybrid-power version. The fully electric version has a range of 100 miles while the hybrid will go 300+ miles with a small gas turbine that generates 65 kW continuous power that charges the batteries as it flies.
As a conventional STOL aircraft, Thompson said it will take off in 20 m / 65 ft, and its cruise speed is 90 mph.
SkyFly’s design team is based in Oxfordshire, UK, and the company is also opening a shop in Nashville, Tennessee.
Thompson reiterated that the company wants to attract new pilots to aviation and is targeting the private ownership market because the Axe will be much more accessible under the new MOSAIC rules in the Light Sport category as it is a very lightweight aircraft. In addition, the Axe is very quiet and there is basically no vibration.
He also emphasized that the flight control surfaces are completely mechanically actuated so in the event of a total power failure the Axe is controllable and has a glide ratio of 6:1, a big safety feature.
The Axe’s stall speed is about 50 kts so it fits under the 58 kt stall speed limit and Thompson concluded by saying they’ll be able to meet all the criteria for the MOSAIC rules.
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