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Press release

Bell Autonomous Pod Transport 70 achieves first BVLOS flight

17/02/2020

Press releaseIssued by Bell Helicopter Textron.
Bell Autonomous Pod Transport 70 achieves first BVLOS flight
Bell APT 70 during its first Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) flight. (Photo: Bell)

The APT 70 recently flew its first Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) flight, over a path of 10 miles at Choctaw Nation test site. The flight test was made under the Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration Pilot Program (UASIPP).

The vehicle also completed an 18 mile flight with 60lbs of payload at Bell's testing site near Fort Worth, Texas.

To date, the APT 70 flight test program has completed over 120 flights. The program will continue to test the vehicles' endurance, range capabilities, and expand the mission sets.

"Our partnership with Choctaw under the UASIPP has allowed us to push the boundaries on our eVTOL technology," said John Wittmaak, program manager, UAS. "By unlocking new performance capabilities, APT 70 will provide unparalleled mission sets for our customers."

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