Watch Video: “Vertical Aerospace Continues on its Skyward March After Completing Successful Wing Borne Flights”
After a difficult start to its eVTOL journey, Vertical Aerospace and its VX4 aircraft is on a steady skyward march towards Type Certification in 2028.
It may not look the prettiest of aircraft, but like all true British underdogs, there is a quiet determination, resilience and up against the wall fortitude towards meeting this end goal barring, of course, that constant and at times fraught and desperate need to attract money, and yet more huge amounts of money, to its coffers. For this industry is one gargantuan money pit. Unfortunately, the eVTOL company does not enjoy the luxury of a global car manufacturer presence and the financial safety net this offers, like its primary competitors.
So, with a certain English pride, let the flags now fly in the sky for this Bristol-based company. It deserves all the accolades going, when the rest of Europe has lost interest in the electric air taxi industry and passed on the baton instead to the U.S and China to keep the dream of a future green aviation alive.
News broke this week, accompanied by an inspiring video, that Vertical had successfully completed phase 3 of its VX4 piloted wing borne flight trials. The aircraft has now taken off, flown and landed like a conventional aircraft with lift generated by its wings. Its stock price soared by close to nine percent on the news (September 10th).
Please Watch Video
The release explains, “The wing borne phase included flights by Chief Test Pilot Simon Davies and Test Pilot Paul Stone, switching between direct (manual) and flight (computer-assisted) control modes. The VX4 performed as modelled in the simulator, validating both the design and ease of handling.”
Since completing Europe’s first-ever piloted wing borne flight of a winged eVTOL in May 2025, Vertical has:-
: Completed piloted flight tests covering 250 miles.
: Reached a top speed of 120 knots and altitude of 2,000 ft.
: Collected over 22 billion data points, validating aerodynamic models, acoustic levels, system reliability and performance.
Vertical will now move to its final trial stage: Transition, proving the VX4’s ability to shift seamlessly between vertical lift (helicopter mode) and wing borne flight (airplane mode).
Some suggest this can be one of the more difficult and trickiest phases of an eVTOL aircraft’s growth, but no doubt the plucky VX4 will pass the test with flying colours.
VX4 Flying over the Cotswolds
Stuart Simpson, CEO of Vertical Aerospace, commented, “Completing wing borne flight is a historic milestone for us. Each phase strengthens confidence among regulators, partners and investors that our aircraft will meet the highest standards of safety and performance. Now we enter the most exciting stage: transition testing, demonstrating the mode the VX4 will use in passenger service.”
Simon Davies, the Chief Test Pilot, added,“Paul Stone and I have had the privilege of flying this machine through it’s wing borne test phase. It’s been incredibly rewarding, with the aircraft performing just like the simulator during our first flights in open air space.”
He continued, “With the high-quality data we’ve gathered and the ability to test at both high and low speeds, we are in the best possible place to explore transition with our proven tools and flight test team.”
More details of the VX4 progress will be shared at Vertical’s Capital Markets Day in New York on September 17th.
For more information
https://vertical-aerospace.com/
(Top image: Vertical Aerospace VX4 during wing borne flight trial)
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