SAMAD Aerospace, the Cranfield, UK-headquartered developer of the eVTOL eStarling business aircraft, has successfully completed the first test flight of its fully electric Starling.

The Starling will offer door-to-door human air transportation and high value cargo transportation especially to remote locations. It can transport either one passenger or 100 kgs of payload at a speed of 120 miles per hour and range of 220 kilometres.

The hover test flight focused on flight control systems and handling quality of the aircraft during the hover.

SAMAD CEO Seyed Mohseni comments: “It was fantastic to be the first person to fly our beautiful Starling aircraft. The experimental test flight went to plan and was the next step to make Starling aircraft a reality. The fully electric VTOL aircraft will change the future of transportation whilst reducing emissions and carbon footprints. This mission started 25 years ago with a plan to build a winning team and the best in class aircraft in the world.”

The SAMAD Aerospace team of experts in their respective fields, including aerodynamics, aircraft design and propulsion systems, are already planning the next test flights.