AIR has announced that its unmanned eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) aircraft has successfully completed its first series of advanced night time flight demonstrations.
The first mid-sized eVTOL to complete an unmanned cargo operation at night, the milestone marks a key step in the advancement of the project, with the company looking to utilise the experience to solidify standard operating procedures (SOPs) for night operations as a whole, as well as verify integration with ground crews for both the loading and unloading of the aircraft.
The demonstrations, which were held at a remote, non-airport site, saw the eVTOL unit perform its operations within real-world conditions, with the series of tests themselves having been designed to test the platform’s ability to operate in differing circumstances across both day and night.
Rani Plaut, CEO and Co-founder of AIR, said:Operations don't stop once the sun goes down. We recognized early on that ensuring safety and efficiency at night is just as essential as in the daytime.
We're proud to have completed this rigorous round of nighttime flight operations showcasing that AIR's eVTOL for cargo use is ready for 24/7 use. The aircraft adapts to almost any environment due to its simple ground handling requirements and the ease with which any ground crew can quickly get up to speed. The new SOPs we established lay the foundation for a future of uninterrupted, on-demand cargo mobility.
AIR ensured that series of demonstrations included ground crews unfamiliar with the operation of the vehicle in order to establish its ease of use with minimal training.
Each test saw the eVTOL loaded with 550 pounds (250kgs) of cargo before departing via remote operation, with one example being available to view on AIR’s YouTube channel, here.
