Horizon Aircraft achieved a major milestone when its large-scale Cavorite X7 demonstrator became the first to transform between vertical lift and high-speed cruise modes using a fan-in-wing design.
Many companies around the world are working on electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) solutions. Most of these are aimed at short-haul flights in urban areas.
However, Horizon, a Canadian aerospace engineering company, is targeting various civilian and defence applications in the emerging regional air mobility market.
Its hybrid eVTOL aircraft will take off like a helicopter but then convert into a plane, with projected speeds up to 450km/h and operational ranges over 800km with fuel reserves.
The company first unveiled its Cavorite demonstrator prototype in 2021. Four years later, its remotely piloted Cavorite X7 ‘large-scale’ demonstrator, with a wingspan of 15 metres and 11.6 metres in length, has reached a major milestone in successfully completing a smooth transition flight, moving...