Vertical Aerospace has successfully completed the first piloted thrust-borne flight transition of its full-scale eVTOL demonstrator. The flight took place on April 2, 2026, although it was officially announced four days later.
During the flight, which was conducted at Vertical Aerospace’s test area at Cotswold Airport (GBA) in southwest England under the supervision of the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the aircraft took off vertically and tilted its rotors into a horizontal position for the cruise stage of the flight.
This movement is the first half of the two-way transition sequence, which involves switching seamlessly between vertical and horizontal flight and back again to vertical flight. In this particular test flight, the aircraft, a VX4 prototype, landed conventionally on the runway after the transition to horizontal flight.
“The aircraft performed exactly as designed, transitioning smoothly and under full control — proving the core elements of Vertical’s distributed electric propulsion and tiltrotor technology at full scale, in real flight conditions,” said David King, Chief Engineer at Vertical Aerospace.
This test is a significant step forward in the technical validation of Vertical Aerospace’s concept of eVTOL operations and adds to other positive developments announced by the British advanced air mobility startup over the last few days.
On March 30, 2026, Vertical Aerospace announced it has secured an US$850 million financing package. This fresh capital injection, which gives Vertical Aerospace a financial cushion to advance in its certification path, has been arranged by Mudrick Capital.
This package includes several financial instruments which Vertical Aerospace may be able to draw from through 2027 and beyond, as it works towards the 2028 type certification target for its Valo eVTOL.
These include the immediate issuance of US$50 million in equity, with an additional US$30 million to follow within weeks.
The bulk of the new capital, however, will come in the form of US$50 million in new convertible secured notes from existing investor Mudrick Capital, as well as US$250 million in Series A convertible preferred shares and a US$500 million equity line of credit, both provided by Yorkville Advisors Global, another investment firm.
It is worth noting that these longer-term commitments are non-binding and subject to the finalization of the relevant agreements, something which is expected to happen towards the second half of April 2026.