Brazilian startup Moya Aero has completed the first full transition flight of its full-scale Moya 256 autonomous, uncrewed cargo eVTOL. The aircraft flew from vertical take-off into wing-borne forward flight and returned to vertical flight during testing in Brazil, advancing the São José dos Campos-based company’s programme beyond hover operations.
The tandem-wing Moya 256 rotates its fuselage to change between hover and cruise, rather than tilting its wings or rotors. Four electric propellers provide vertical lift and forward thrust. The transition test assessed the propulsion, aerodynamic and flight-control systems as the aircraft moved between the two flight modes.
Moya previously completed a full transition with a subscale demonstrator in August 2024. The Moya 256 evolved from a technology demonstrator that first flew in November 2023 and had accumulated nearly 200 flights by the time of the announcement.
The company is also constructing the first full-scale prototype of the larger Moya 760 cargo eVTOL. Moya intends its aircraft to operate from areas as small as a football field, avoiding the need for a conventional runway. The available reports do not provide flight duration, altitude, speed, payload or weather data for the Moya 256 transition.