07 March 2023 || 3 min read

AutoFlight, an autonomous passenger-carrying eVTOL developer based in China, has just broken the world record for the world’s furthest eVTOL flight at 155 miles. This breaks Joby Aviation’s previous record by just 1 mile.

On a single charge, AutoFlight’s electric aircraft was able to complete 155 miles of flight over a pre-defined flight track. During the test flight, like during Joby’s record-setting flight, the aircraft performed both vertical take-off and landing. Notably, this is the first aircraft of its size with a ‘strut design’ to be perform a high-range flight.

Like during Joby’s flight, the test flight was remotely piloted. According to representatives from AutoFlight, the flight works towards helping the aircraft earn certification with the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) by 2025.

AutoFlight’s president, Omer Bar-Yohay, said: “This flight is both a great celebratory milestone, and a testament to the team’s incredible effort and progress in testing and incrementally pushing the aircraft’s performance envelope. It’s a remarkable achievement that shows our aircraft’s capability, and we are excited to continue working towards our next goals all the way to EASA certification in 2025.”

AutoFlight has already established a manufacturing facility near Shanghai with the capacity to produce 1,000 aircraft per year. Operating since 2017, the company’s leadership includes executives from Eviation, the helicopter division of Airbus, and Uber Elevate.


Why it’s important: Although this record does not break Joby Aviation’s by a large margin, both AutoFlight and Joby now lead the market in eVTOL prototype development. The announcement by AutoFlight puts it on par with Joby as one of the top global eVTOL aircraft makers.

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Source // AutoFlight, Revolution.aero

Posted by Benji

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