Horizon Aircraft has successfully completed initial hover testing of its “Cavorite X5” scale prototype.

Brandon Robinson, CEO of Horizon Aircraft says: "This aircraft has exceeded expectations during initial hover testing. It is extremely stable, is capable of full hover at only 65% power, and has hovered with 20% of its fans purposely disabled in order to test system redundancy. This is a large-scale aircraft, with a 22 foot wingspan, over 15 feet in length, and capable of speeds over 175 mph. It continues to yield valuable data that is constantly improving our full-scale design.”

Horizon's patented eVTOL concept allows the aircraft to fly 98% of its mission in a very low-drag configuration like a traditional aircraft and is one of the only eVTOL aircraft currently able to do so. The company says that flying most of the mission as a normal aircraft is safer, more efficient, and will be easier to certify than radical new eVTOL designs. The full-scale aircraft will also be powered by a hybrid electric system that can recharge the battery array in-flight while providing additional system redundancy.

Horizon Aircraft plans to move to transition flight testing in Q1 2023 at the world class ACE Climatic Wind Tunnel located near Toronto, Ontario.