Chinese flying car startup completes first low

Chinese electric aircraft startup AutoFlight said on Nov. 29 that its two-tonne flying drone car successfully completed its first flight in Japan, part of its larger goal to conduct demonstration flights at the 2025 World Expo in the Japanese city of Osaka. The Shanghai-based company carried out the unmanned, five-minute test flight with its five-seater Prosperity aircraft in Okayama prefecture in southwestern Japan in a partnership with MASC, a Japanese non-profit organization dedicated to aerospace industry advancement. The electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft is lifted by 13 propellers and can carry a maximum payload of 350 kilograms. MASC hopes these eVTOLs could deliver small cargo, such as food and medicine, to local residents in the country’s Seto Inland Sea area in the future, NHK has reported. AutoFlight said the successful demonstration would pave the way for more test flights in multiple Japanese cities, without giving further details. [AutoFlight release, NHK, in Japanese]