Airbus’ autonomous ‘air taxi’ Vahana completes its first test flight
Airbus conducted the first successful test flight of its Vahana electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft on January 31st, the aerospace giant announced. At 8:52AM, the full-scale vehicle reached a modest height of five meters (16 feet) before descending safely. The self-piloted flight only lasted 53 seconds, but it is a reminder that “flying taxi” mobility projects we hear a lot about these days, while sounding ludicrous, can’t be easily dismissed as vaporware.
Airbus has said it wants to build a fleet of autonomous, multirotor eVTOL aircraft that can be used to fly from rooftop to rooftop in dense cities where traffic is often at a standstill. The project launched in early 2016 as one of the first pursuits of A³…
