Vertical Aerospace has moved into the second phase of its flight test campaign with the inaugural untethered flight of its second prototype aircraft; something made possible through extended permission from the UK regulator.
“Expanding our flight test envelope puts us in line with very few UK companies that have reached this milestone of piloted eVTOL flight,” explained Vertical, which concluded the first stage of its piloted flight test programme (at Gloucestershire’s Cotswold airport) in September 2024. The company has since been waiting on additional Civil Aviation Authority permission (in the form of an expanded Permit to Fly) to make an untethered ascent. However, with this now having been granted, Vertical concludes it will “continue to work closely with the regulators as [it moves] through the flight test programme”.
Earlier this year, chief technology officer Michael Cervenka explained that the tetherless, thrust-borne campaign of the VX4 – “effectively redoing what [Vertical] did on aircraft one with a pilot on board” – would systematically continue to validate Vertical’s engineering, design, test data and aircraft over the coming months. Following hover tests, the eVTOL will progress to forward wingborne flight; something Cervenka described as a “critical manoeuvre an eVTOL has to go through”.
The latest image released by Vertical also appears to possess a red triangle on the side of the aircraft’s fuselage, denoting a live ejection seat. Although Vertical confirmed earlier this year that it is only installing an ejection seat – “purchased from a specialist equipment company” – in its test aircraft, an active ejection seat would make the Vertical’s aircraft the first eVTOL to date to employ a live option.