Watch Videos: Spain Joins eVTOL Race “with Integrity”
Countries are falling over themselves to join the eVTOL and drone industries and Spain is the latest to display a contender. Called “The Integrity 3” and constructed by company Umiles Next, this eVTOL first took to the air at the ONERA test field in Toulouse, France last month (watch 1st video), as part of an initiative led by the TindAIR project (SESAR JU).
The craft then carried out a second and more complex outdoor trial this week at the ATLAS Test Flight Centre in Villacarrillo, Jaen, Spain (watch 2nd video), where Lilium was very active testing and flying its Gen 5 Jets (Phoenix 2 and 3) during the summer. The Atlas Centre specialises in trialing tactical remotely-piloted systems and unmanned aviation technologies.
eVTOLs come in all shapes and sizes and rather like Lift’s HEXA, Umiles Next, Integrity 3, has more of a Heath Robinson contraption look about it compared to some of its competitors.
This week’s trial was part of a complex European project, USPACE4UAM, to demonstrate integrated mixed air operations in urban settings. i.e to show that unmanned drones and eVTOLs can seamlessly and safely operate within the same space. Therefore, what made this second trial different to the first is that Integrity 3 was flanked by other aircraft flying at different airspace levels.
Honeywell is the project’s leader with other eVTOL manufacturers, such as Vertical Aerospace, also participating.
Umiles Next Team
Integrity 3 is the first eVTOL boasting 100 percent Spanish technology and manufacturing. Equipped with the FlyFree technology developed by Tecnalia, the eVTOL can carry two passengers at 137 mph. Its range extends to 78 miles and is capable of automatic take-off, height control and landing.
Integrity will continue its series of flight tests in various European cities as part of the USPACE4UAM project.
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(News Source: https://www.autoevolution.com)
(Pics: Umiles Next)
