Vertical Aerospace
British aerospace manufacturer
Vertical Aerospace Ltd. is an aerospace manufacturer based in Bristol, England. It designs and builds zero emission, electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) electrically powered aircraft.
History
2010s
The company was founded in 2016 by Stephen Fitzpatrick, an ex-Formula One team owner, and founder and CEO of OVO Energy.
In June 2018, the company flew its first prototype aircraft — an electrically powered quadcopter that weighed 750 kg (1,650 lb), named VA-X1 — at Cotswold Airport, Kemble, Gloucestershire. The aircraft, which was unmanned and remotely controlled, was capable of vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) and had four electric engines, each inside a ducted fan.
In 2019, the company became Honeywell's first eVTOL customer, buying their fly-by-wire aircraft control systems for a future Vertical Aerospace aircraft, the VA-X4. Further in 2019 they launched their second aircraft, VA-X2, making them the first company in the world to release flight footage of an electric VTOL aircraft capable of carrying 250 kg (550 lb). 2019 was also the year the company appointed its president, Michael Cervenka, former Head of Future Business Propositions at Rolls-Royce.
2020s
In April 2020, Tim Williams joined Vertical Aerospace.
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