Heart Aerospace has flown its piloted X1 all-electric demonstrator for the first time, completing a 27-minute sortie from Plattsburgh International Airport in upstate New York on 12 August. The full-scale aircraft, built to validate technologies for the company’s ES-30 regional hybrid-electric programme, reached 1,100 feet above ground level during the flight and used more than one megawatt of power.
The X1 flew under a Federal Aviation Administration Special Airworthiness Certificate in the Experimental Category after ground testing. Heart describes the aircraft as the largest battery-electric aircraft ever flown, with the demonstrator intended to assess aerodynamics, flight performance and system integration at an airliner-relevant scale.
The flight also serves as a development checkpoint for the ES-30, Heart’s planned 30-seat hybrid-electric regional aircraft. The company is using the X1 to validate key technologies and to build readiness across its flight-test organisation as it advances the programme toward certification and commercialisation.