AutoFlight completed a formation flight with five eVTOL aircraft at its Bailian Lake Flight Test Base in Kunshan, China, on 31 October and 1 November. The group comprised one five-ton V5000 Matrix and four two-ton aircraft from the V2000CG CarryAll cargo and V2000CGF CarryAll firefighting models. AutoFlight describes the demonstration as the world’s first formation flight involving five eVTOLs. It reports that the aircraft flew autonomously for 47 minutes, covering more than 133 km.
The company reported that the formation maintained horizontal and vertical separation in strong winds on 1 November. The demonstration followed a three-aircraft formation flight in May and brought together different aircraft models, weight classes and mission configurations. Industry professionals, customers, partners and Stanford Executive Program alumni representatives watched from Sunship, AutoFlight’s water-based vertiport on Dianshan Lake.
The flight was a test demonstration of autonomous coordination, not evidence of passenger-service readiness or certification for formation operations. AutoFlight’s description of the flight as a world first, along with the performance figures, has not been independently verified; the company did not provide detailed safety or test data.