Eve Air Mobility has completed the first partial transition flight of its full-scale engineering prototype at Embraer’s flight-test facility in Gavião Peixoto, Brazil. The test is the first time the aircraft’s rear pusher propeller has been activated in the air, and the programme is now moving into the transition phase between vertical and wing-borne flight.
The prototype reached a stabilised speed of 27 knots, a maximum ground speed of 30 knots and a height of 90 feet above ground level during the 3-minute, 9-second flight. It covered about 0.84 nautical miles, or 1.55 km, as Eve continues gradually expanding the flight envelope towards higher speeds and full transition testing.
The company had previously closed the hover and low-speed flight block in May after 59 flights and 2 hours, 27 minutes and 33 seconds of accumulated flight time, before shifting to ground tests ahead of transition work. Reporting around the programme indicates full-speed and full-transition testing is roughly 30 flights away, leaving Eve to collect additional data needed for certification and eventual entry into service.