Vertical Aerospace prototype completes first piloted flight

Vertical Aerospace (NYSE: EVTL) announced that its latest full-scale prototype aircraft completed its first piloted flight on June 5, 2026, at the company's Flight Test Centre in the UK.

The flight was conducted by Vertical Test Pilot Paul Stone at 8:49 BST after the UK Civil Aviation Authority issued a new Permit to Fly following ground testing and aircraft validation activities.

This prototype represents the final aircraft to join Vertical's flight test fleet before the company completes Critical Design Review, a milestone that establishes the design baseline for certification. Following this review, Vertical plans to begin preparations for assembly of its first pre-production aircraft.

The new prototype doubles the company's flight testing capacity and will progress through all phases of piloted flight testing, including thrustborne, wingborne and transition flight. After completing testing in its all-electric configuration, Vertical intends to retrofit this prototype for hybrid-electric flight testing.

"Getting our latest prototype into flight testing is an important milestone because it allows us to learn faster in real world conditions and keep building momentum towards certification," said Stuart Simpson, CEO of Vertical Aerospace.

The prototype shares the same configuration as Vertical's current full-scale aircraft, which has completed all flight test phases. The company's existing prototype continues transition flight testing, having completed multiple piloted transition flights.

Vertical is developing the Valo, a four-passenger electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft. The company reports approximately 1,500 pre-orders from customers including American Airlines, Avolon, Bristow, GOL and Japan Airlines across four continents.

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