24 January, 2019: Boeing’s self-flying passenger air vehicle completed its first test flight in Manassas, Virginia. The prototype successfully completed a controlled takeoff, hover and landing during the flight. Tests were conducted to check the vehicle's autonomous functions and ground control systems.
In future, test will be conducted to check test forward, wing-borne flight, as well as the transition phase between vertical and forward-flight modes. The most significant engineering challenge for any high-speed VTOL aircraft is the transition phase.
Steve Nordlund, Vice President and General Manager, Boeing NeXt said, "Boeing was there when the aviation industry was born and in our second century, we will unlock the potential of the urban air mobility market.”
Boeing subsidiary Aurora Flight Sciences was utilised by Boeing Next, which leads the company’s urban air mobility efforts to design and develop the electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft and they will continue to test the safety and reliability of on-demand autonomous air transportation.
The PAV prototype has been designed for fully autonomous flight from takeoff to landing. It has the range of up to 50 miles (80.47 kilometers) and is powered by an electric propulsion system. It measures 30 feet (9.14 meters) long and 28 feet (8.53 meters) wide. It has an advanced airframe which integrates the propulsion and wing systems to achieve efficient hover and forward flight.