Vertical Aerospace Completes First Crewed Flight of Final Full-Scale Prototype
UK eVTOL developer Vertical Aerospace has completed the first crewed flight of its latest full-scale prototype at the UK Flight Test Centre on June 5, doubling the company's flight test capacity and accelerating progress toward certification and commercial entry into service of the Valo aircraft.
Highlights
- Test pilot Paul Stone completed the first crewed flight of Vertical Aerospace's latest full-scale eVTOL prototype at 08:49 BST on June 5 at the UK Flight Test Centre.
- The new prototype is the final aircraft to join the flight test fleet before Vertical Aerospace's Critical Design Review (CDR), which will establish the certification design baseline.
- Adding the new prototype doubles Vertical Aerospace's overall flight test capacity, enabling faster aircraft validation and risk reduction.
- Following completion of all electric-configuration flight test phases, the prototype will be converted to a hybrid-electric variant to support defence, logistics, and commercial applications requiring extended range and payload.
- After CDR, Vertical Aerospace will begin assembly of the first pre-production Valo aircraft as the programme progresses toward certification and commercial entry into service.
Vertical Aerospace Completes First Crewed Flight of Final Full-Scale Prototype
UK electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft developer Vertical Aerospace has announced that its latest full-scale prototype has completed its first crewed flight at the UK Flight Test Centre, formally launching an expanded flight test programme.
First Flight Details
Test pilot Paul Stone completed the flight at 08:49 BST on June 5. Meanwhile, the company's existing prototype continues to conduct transition flight testing and has already completed multiple crewed transition flights.
The flight was made possible after the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) issued a new flight permit following extensive ground testing and airframe verification.
Last Prototype Before Critical Design Review
This new prototype is the final aircraft to join Vertical Aerospace's flight test fleet before the company completes its Critical Design Review (CDR) — a major programme milestone that will establish the design baseline required for certification. Following CDR, Vertical will begin assembly of the first pre-production aircraft, continuing its push toward certification and commercial operations.
Flight Test Capacity Doubled
Vertical Aerospace CEO Stuart Simpson commented: "Getting our newest prototype into flight test is an important milestone as it allows us to learn faster in a real-world environment and continue to build momentum toward certification. Expanding our flight test fleet will help us validate the aircraft more quickly, reduce risk, and progress Valo toward entry into service more efficiently."
The addition of the new aircraft doubles the company's flight test capacity and will support further public demonstration activities throughout the year. After completing all flight test phases — including thrust-borne, wing-borne, and transition flight — in a fully electric configuration, Vertical plans to refit the prototype as a hybrid-electric version for further testing.
Hybrid-Electric Variant Expands Use Cases
The hybrid-electric version is expected to support applications requiring greater range and payload capacity, spanning defence, logistics, and broader commercial sectors.
Test Architecture Closely Aligned with Production Aircraft
The new prototype shares the same configuration as Vertical's existing full-scale aircraft, which has already completed all flight test phases. Vertical's flight test programme centres on full-scale crewed prototypes whose structure, systems, and flight characteristics closely mirror those of the production-standard Valo aircraft, enabling the company to validate the technologies, systems integration, and flight models needed to support certification.
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