Flight Tests

We've been following the development of Australia's AMSL Aero's longe-range, hydrogen-powered Vertiia eVTOL for some time and now the box-winged tilt-rotor aircraft has completed its first free flight after over a year of 50 tethered tests.

Boom's XB-1 supersonic jet took its fifth test flight last week setting a few new records. The XB-1 is the one-third scale platform that Boom is using for its eventual Overture program aiming to bring back commercial supersonic passenger flight.

China's Nebula-1 reusable first-stage rocket booster took a bit of a tumble on September 22, 2024 when its nearly perfect high-altitude vertical flight ended when it got a bit dented as it crashed into the ground during the powered landing attempt.

Piasecki Aircraft's Aerial Reconfigurable Embedded System (ARES) tilt-duct VTOL aircraft has completed its maiden flight. On September 6 at Piasecki's West Helipad in Essington, Pennsylvania the autonomous rotorcraft made two tethered hover flights.

The US Air Force has released a video of the maiden flight of its XQ-67A demonstrator drone. Taken on February 28, 2024, the footage shows the autonomous aircraft strutting its stuff in the skies over Gray Butte Field Airport, Palmdale, California.

Hermeus has stolen another quick march on its way to building a hypersonic aircraft as it begins testing its proprietary precooler on a Pratt & Whitney F100 jet engine that will be installed in the company's Quarterhorse Mk 2 prototype.

Airbus' EcoPulse hybrid-electric distributed propulsion demonstrator aircraft has completed its maiden flight using its complete powertrain of ePropellers, high-density batteries, and a turbogenerator in support of aviation's decarbonization.

Airbus has flight tested the latest prototype of its A400M Roll-on/Roll-off modular kit that turns a standard Airbus A400M turboprop military transport aircraft into a firefighting bomber to drop water and retardants on conflagrations.

Having shown off simplified copter controls, Airbus Helicopters' FlightLab has completed a fully automated flight testing a new simplified tablet-based human machine interface (HMI) designed to reduce pilot workloads and increase safety.

The US Navy has highlighted the future of the US/UK seaborne nuclear deterrent by successfully launching a Trident II D5 Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM) from the Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine USS Louisiana for a record 191 times.

In a huge moment for the company – and the electric VTOL industry at large – Joby Aviation has officially started manned flight testing of its S4 eVTOL air taxi. Announcing the milestone with a video, Joby leads team USA in the race to certification.

A vintage Cold War spy plane is getting a new lease on life as Lockheed Martin's notorious yet secretive Skunk Works completes the first test flight of a Lockheed U-2 Dragon Lady with an upgraded avionics suite and cockpit displays.