Horizon Aircraft, an innovative leader in hybrid electric vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aerial vehicles, has successfully completed initial hover-testing of its “Cavorite X5” scale prototype.
Brandon Robinson, CEO of Horizon Aircraft said, “This aircraft has exceeded expectations during initial hover-testing. It is extremely stable, is capable of full hover at only 65% power, and has hovered with 20% of its fans purposely disabled in order to test system redundancy. This is a large-scale aircraft, with a 22-foot wingspan, over 15 feet in length and capable of speeds over 175 mph. It continues to yield valuable data that is constantly improving our full-scale design.”
Horizon's innovative and patented eVTOL concept allows the aircraft to fly 98% of its mission in a very low-drag configuration like a traditional aircraft and is one of the only eVTOL aircraft currently able to do so. Flying most of the mission as a normal aircraft is safer, more efficient and will be easier to certify than radical new eVTOL designs. The full-scale aircraft will also be powered by a hybrid-electric system that can recharge the battery array in-flight while providing additional system redundancy.
Horizon Aircraft plans to move to transition flight testing in Q1 2023 at ACE Climatic Wind Tunnel located near Toronto, Ontario.
