Vertical Aerospace announces training partner for new electric aircraft

Emissions-free flying pioneer Vertical Aerospace has announced that flight simulation and training company CAE will be the pilot training partner for its new electric, vertical take-off and landing plane.

The VA-X4 is a piloted, zero-emissions, electric, vertical take-off and landing aircraft. It is capable of travelling at more than 320km/h (200 miles per hour), with a range of more than 100 miles and capacity for four passengers and a pilot.

The aircraft takes off vertically, like a helicopter, enabling it to operate in and out of cities and other confined locations. The company has said it is safer and 100 times quieter than a helicopter. It expects the aircraft to be used like taxis in congested urban centres.

Vertical is a Bristol-headquartered engineering and aeronautical business founded in 2016 by Belfast entrepreneur Stephen Fitzpatrick. It is targeting flights by 2025 as the competition to introduce the world’s first electric vertical take-off and landing craft heats up.

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Vertical has sealed at least 1,350 pre-orders from customers and partners, including American Airlines, Virgin Atlantic Airways and Japanese conglomerate Marubeni.

Dómhnal Slattery’s Irish lessor Avolon ordered 500 of the aircraft from Vertical last year, all of which it has subsequently placed with a range of international customers.

Avolon has also invested $15 million (€13.7 million) in Vertical, and Mr Slattery was appointed chairman of the group in January.

On Tuesday, the group said CAE would design and develop a “world-class training programme” for pilots and be its exclusive training device provider, “tailoring the high-fidelity, next-generation flight simulation training device” for the VX4 aircraft.

The training programme will leverage technologies including mixed reality and artificial intelligence to enhance the learning experience and will help shift the training paradigm toward cost-effectiveness and scalability, while ensuring safety “is paramount”.

Vertical said advanced air mobility is expected to drive “unprecedented demand” for qualified, professionally trained pilots for inner-city and regional electric flights.

Additionally, because CAE currently provides training products and services to many of Vertical’s customer base, a smoother integration of new advanced air mobility pilot training programmes into their training portfolios “is anticipated”.

Upon the signing of a definitive agreement, Vertical and CAE will start working together three years ahead of the VX4′s targeted entry into service in 2025.

Harry Holt, deputy chief executive of Vertical, said the group “has built its commercial ecosystem to enable advanced air mobility and ensure we have partnerships in place to introduce safer, cleaner and quieter mobility for everyone”.

He added: “Bringing CAE into our unrivalled ecosystem is a key enabler to solve the training requirement for our customers, as we prepare for the VX4′s entry into service.”

Nick Leontidis, CAE’s group president for civil aviation, said the company’s training relationships with top-tier airlines and operators is a “key differentiator” for it partnership with Vertical.

“They know they can count on CAE for advanced training as they venture into this new market,” he said. “We are excited to join Vertical’s ecosystem and work hand-in-hand to build the aviation workforce of the future.”

Vertical also announced the appointment of former McLaren Automotive chief executive Mike Flewitt to its board of directors.

Mr Slattery said his experience across the automotive industry “will be critical to the next phases of our journey, playing a key role in enabling the commercialisation of our revolutionary VX4 aircraft”.