Workhorse has completed the first manned flight of its SureFly vertical-take-off-and-landing (VTOL) drone near Cincinnati, Ohio, US.
During the flight, the electric aircraft lifted 5ft off the ground with a pilot sitting inside the vehicle.
The hybrid gas and battery-powered VTOL is capable of flying at a 75-mile range.
Designed to carry two passengers, SureFly has previously secured an experimental certification from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
SureFly CEO Steve Burns was quoted by mashable.com saying: “People want to have something in their garage to take out and fly.
“We’re trying to make it safer than driving your car to the same destination. We didn’t think an all-electric craft was ready for prime time yet.”
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By GlobalDataEquipped with eight propellers, SureFly can carry up to 400lb of payloads, reported digitaltrends.com.
In January, Workhorse aborted SureFly’s scheduled maiden manned flight due to bad weather. The flight was planned to take place at the CES event in the US.
The company is yet to complete various technical and regulatory developmental works on SureFly.
SureFly has been designed for safe and easy flight, featuring eight independent motors with an individual carbon fibre propeller, a backup battery power system, and a ballistic parachute to safely land during emergencies.
Workhorse plans to fly a fully-developed SureFly aircraft by 2020.
The company is part of AMP Electric Vehicles, following its acquisition by AMP in March 2015.
