FutureFlight
Lilium Reports Hover-to-Cruise Airflow Transition Breakthrough in eVTOL Test Flights
The transition was achieved with the company's Phoenix 2 eVTOL technology demonstrator during test flights in Spain.
Lilium's technology demonstrator aircraft has achieved a full hover-to-cruise flight transition.
Airflow from the Lilium eVTOL aircraft's 30 ducted fans gets redirected by its flaps to allow the wings to generate the lift needed for efficient horizontal cruise flight. (Image: Lilium)

Lilium says it has achieved the critical transition from vertical hover to wing-borne cruise flight with its Phoenix 2 eVTOL technology demonstrator. The company reported the landmark on May 31, a few weeks after resuming flight testing in Spain, and claims that it’s the first such transition by what it calls a full-sized electric jet aircraft with ducted fan engines and a fixed-wing. Several lift-and-cruise eVTOL aircraft with open rotors have reportedly achieved the transition, including the Joby Aviation prototype.

The Phoenix 2 is essentially a subscale version of the seven-seat Lilium Jet with which the German start-up now expects to complete type certification in 2025. In March, it reported a program delay that will see it build the first production-conforming aircraft in 2023, at which point it will start a 15- to 18-month certification flight test campaign.