Chinese eVTOL develop AutoFlight reports it has successfully completed a world-first autonomous formation flight involving five eVTOL aircraft across two weight classes, “marking a major milestone in multi-aircraft coordination and electric aviation,” said the company.
The formation consisted of one 5-ton V5000 Matrix and four 2-ton eVTOLs, featuring three models: the V5000 Matrix, V2000CG CarryAll cargo eVTOL, and V2000CGF CarryAll firefighting eVTOL. The five-aircraft formation completed a coordinated 47-minute flight, with the lead V5000 covering more than 133 km. The entire flight was conducted autonomously, with no manual intervention. Despite strong winds on November 1, the formation maintained stable flight and safe horizontal and vertical separation, said AutoFlight. Coordinating aircraft of different sizes and mission profiles requires precise route planning, flight control, communication, and safety management.
The demonstrations took place on October 31 and November 1 at AutoFlight’s Bailian Lake Flight Test Base in Kunshan, China. The events invited alumni representatives from the Stanford Executive Program (SEP) at Stanford Graduate School of Business, international eVTOL industry professionals, and AutoFlight customers and partners, said AutoFlight. Guests also visited Sunship, AutoFlight’s water-based green vertiport on Dianshan Lake, and watched the formation flight from the lakeside.
For more information
https://www.autoflight.com/en/news/autoflight-completes-worlds-first-5-evtol-mixed-fleet-formation-flight/
(Image: AutoFlight)