en.Wedoany.com Reported - Vertical Aerospace (London, UK) recently announced that its latest full-scale electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) prototype has completed its first piloted flight at the company's flight test center in the UK, marking the beginning of an expanded phase of flight test activities.

The flight, conducted by Vertical Aerospace test pilot Paul Stone on June 5, took place after the company received a new flight permit from the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). Prior to this, the company had completed extensive ground testing and aircraft validation activities. Meanwhile, the company's existing prototype continues to conduct transition flight tests and has completed multiple piloted transition flights.

This new prototype is the last aircraft to join the flight test fleet before Vertical Aerospace completes its Critical Design Review (CDR). After the CDR is completed, the company will begin preparations to assemble the first pre-production aircraft to continue advancing certification and commercial service processes.

This prototype doubles the company's flight test capacity and supports additional public demonstrations in 2026. After completing all flight test phases—including thrust-borne flight, wing-borne flight, and transition flight—in a fully electric configuration, Vertical Aerospace plans to modify this prototype for hybrid-electric flight testing. The hybrid-electric model is expected to support applications requiring greater range and payload capacity in defense, logistics, and broader commercial sectors.

This prototype shares the same configuration as Vertical Aerospace's current full-scale aircraft, which has completed all flight test phases. The company's flight test program is built around full-scale piloted prototypes, with architecture, systems, and flight characteristics highly consistent with the production-standard Valo aircraft, enabling the company to validate the technology, system integration, and flight models that will support certification.

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