Aircraft
Vertical Achieves Full Piloted eVTOL Aircraft Transition
UK eVTOL developer becomes second in world to accomplish testing milestone
Vertical VX4 aircraft in flight
The VX4 prototype’s full transition flight was conducted from Vertical’s home base at Kemble, Gloucestershire, in the UK. It was flown by Vertical Aerospace chief test pilot Simon Davies.

Vertical Aerospace this week performed its first full transition flight, with its prototype eVTOL combining vertical take-off and landing elements with forward flight in a single mission. This precedes the next stage of certification testing and an upcoming critical design review.

During the so-called ‘two-way’ transition flight, achieved on April 14, the test aircraft took off vertically before moving to forward wingborne cruise. It then landed vertically. This, believes the Bristol-based developer, makes it the “second company globally to complete a two-way piloted transition flight in a full-scale tiltrotor eVTOL.”