Lilium reports successful air taxi flight
Munich start-up Lilium reports that the Lilium Jet has successfully completed its maiden test flight series in the skies above Bavaria.
“The 2-seater Eagle prototype executed a range of complex…
Munich start-up Lilium reports that the Lilium Jet has successfully completed its maiden test flight series in the skies above Bavaria.
“The 2-seater Eagle prototype executed a range of complex maneuvers, including its signature mid-air transition from hover mode to wing-borne forward flight,” a Lilium statement said.
The company said: “Seeing the Lilium Jet take to the sky and performing sophisticated maneuvers with apparent ease is testament to the skill and perseverance of our amazing team. We have solved some of the toughest engineering challenges in aviation to get to this point. The successful test flight programme shows that our ground-breaking technical design works exactly as we envisioned. We can now turn our focus to designing a 5-seater production aircraft.”
The company is now developing a larger, 5-seater version of its Lilium Jet, designed for on-demand air taxi and ridesharing services. According to the company, a typical journey with the Lilium Jet will be at least five times faster than by car, with even greater efficiencies in busy cities. So a flight from Manhattan to New York’s JFK Airport will take around 5 minutes, compared to the 55 minutes it would take you by car.
