Electric rotary “flying car” aircraft completes first Eglin flight [PHOTOS]

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. — A Lift Hexa, an electric, vertical takeoff and landing personal aircraft— or flying car — completed its first test flight at Eglin Air Force Base on April 4.

The aircraft, which was unmanned during testing, was piloted via remote control and flew for approximately 10 minutes, reaching a height of about 50 feet.

“The thought of an electric vertical take-off and landing vehicle — a flying car — might seem straight out of a Hollywood movie, but by partnering today with stakeholders across industries and agencies, we can set up the United States for this aerospace phenomenon,” Secretary of the Air Force Barbara Barrett said during the program’s launch in April 2020.

The aircraft resides with Eglin’s rotary wing test squadron, the 413th Flight Test Squadron, which manages the program under its Agility Prime flight.

The unit provides the coordination, logistics, and support for the Lift team’s developmental ground and flight-testing operations.

The rotary aircraft uses 18 battery-powered motors and propellers to fly, according to the Lift Aircraft website.

Its maximum cruise speed is 63 mph (55 knots) and its maximum flying time is 15 minutes. According to Lift, the actual flight times are dependent on pilot weight and weather conditions.

“This is an opportunity to leverage some of the unit’s expertise with rotary aircraft and apply it to this new field of electric propulsion aircraft,” said Maj. Riley Livermore, 413th FLTS futures flight commander.

Lift is a Texas-based Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract recipient as one of the first companies of its size to join the Agility Prime “Air Race to Certification,” according to the Air Force.

More than a dozen of the leading aircraft manufacturers in the world are applying to partner with Agility Prime, with many of them already on contract, according to Col. Nathan Diller, AFWERX director, and Agility Prime lead.

By Samuel King Jr.