test flight

Vertical Aero announces historic electric flight test

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Vertical Aerospace Becomes the First British Company in 20 Years to Lift off With a New Aircraft. Vertical Aerospace has celebrated “wheels up” for the first time as its electric VX4 prototype conducted its very first airborne test. The full-scale VX4 eVTOL aircraft prototype took off for the first time this past weekend with chief … Read more

World’s largest aircraft takes to the sky for its test flight

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Stratolaunch, founded by Paul G. Allen, is developing an air-launch platform to make access to space more convenient, reliable, and routine.

Stratolaunch Completes Historic First Flight of Aircraft
Stratolaunch Completes Historic First Flight of Aircraft; @stratolaunch.com

 

Seattle-based Stratolaunch Systems Corporation, founded by American business magnate, investor, researcher, humanitarian, and philanthropist Paul G. Allen, successfully completed the first flight of the world’s largest all-composite aircraft, the Stratolaunch. With a dual fuselage design and wingspan greater than the length of an American football field (with 385-foot wingspan), the Stratolaunch aircraft is a remarkable engineering achievement.

Achieving a maximum speed of 189 miles per hour, the plane flew for 2.5 hours over the Mojave Desert at altitudes up to 17,000 feet. As part of the initial flight, the pilots evaluated aircraft performance and handling qualities before landing successfully back at the Mojave Air and Space Port.

“What a fantastic first flight,” said Jean Floyd, CEO of Stratolaunch. “Today’s flight furthers our mission to provide a flexible alternative to ground-launched systems. We are incredibly proud of the Stratolaunch team, today’s flight crew, our partners at Northrop Grumman’s Scaled Composites and the Mojave Air and Space Port.”

The Stratolaunch aircraft is a mobile launch platform that will enable airline-style access. The reinforced center wing can support multiple launch vehicles, weighing up to a total of 500,000 pounds.

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Stratolaunch Completes Historic First Flight of Aircraft; @stratolaunch.com
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Stratolaunch Completes Historic First Flight of Aircraft; @stratolaunch.com
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Stratolaunch Completes Historic First Flight of Aircraft; @stratolaunch.com
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Stratolaunch Completes Historic First Flight of Aircraft; @stratolaunch.com
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Stratolaunch Completes Historic First Flight of Aircraft; @stratolaunch.com
Stratolaunch Completes Historic First Flight of Aircraft 2019 April
Stratolaunch Completes Historic First Flight of Aircraft; @stratolaunch.com

SpaceX oddity: how Elon Musk sent a car towards Mars

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A Starman sitting in a tin can is currently navigating the heavens, soundtracked by David Bowie. How did it – and we – get there?

Elon Musk’s giant SpaceX rocket makes triumphant launch

The world’s first electric vertical take-⁠off and landing jet celebrates successful maiden flight

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Lilium Jet takes to the skies. The all-electric ‘flying car’ take its first test flight.

The Lilium Jet – The world's first all-electric VTOL jet -
The Lilium Jet – The world’s first all-electric VTOL jet

 

The Lilium Jet successfully completed its maiden test flight series in the skies above Bavaria. The 2-seater Eagle prototype executed a range of complex maneuvers, including its signature mid-air transition from hover mode to wing-borne forward flight.

Lilium Aviation have solved some of the toughest engineering challenges in aviation to get to this point.

“The successful test flight programme shows that our ground-breaking technical design works exactly as we envisioned. We can now turn our focus to designing a 5-seater production aircraft,” said Lilium Aviation.

The world’s first electric vertical take-⁠off and landing jet commutes without emissions and noise pollution. It has a 300km range and it can fly from London to Paris in one hour. Access inner cities with less noise than a motorbike, while flying as fast as a Formula One car (300 km/h speed).

Lilium Aviation also announced plans for a 5 seater Lilium Jet aimed at on-demand air taxi services. A typical journey with the Lilium Jet will be at least 5x faster than by car, with even greater efficiencies in busy cities. So a flight from Manhattan to New York’s JFK Airport will take around 5 minutes, compared to the 55 minutes it would take you by car.

The Lilium Jet consists of a rigid winged body with 12 flaps. Each one carries three electric jet engines. Depending on the flight mode, the flaps tilt from a vertical into a horizontal position. At take-off, all flaps are tilted vertical, so that the engines can lift the aircraft. Once airborne, the flaps gradually tilt into a horizontal position, leading the aircraft to accelerate. When they have reached complete horizontal position, all lift necessary to stay aloft is provided by the wings as on a conventional airplane.

 

The Lilium Jet – The world's first all-electric VTOL jet The Lilium Jet – The world's first all-electric VTOL jet - renderings The Lilium Jet – The world's first all-electric VTOL jet - maiden flight