• 07 Jul 2025 01:30 PM
• 0

MightyFly Demos Autonomous Flight and Cargo Ops

MightyFly Demonstrates Autonomous Flight and Cargo Operations for the US Air Force

By VFS Staff

On June 27, San Leandro, California-based MightyFly announced that it had conducted a live flight demonstration for the US Air Force as part of its Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Phase II contract with the Air Force’s AFWERX program. MightyFly intends to provide expedited logistics services, and is developing its Cento autonomous, hybrid-electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) cargo uncrewed aircraft system (UAS).

The demonstration was held at the New Jerusalem Airport (1Q4) near Tracy, California — east of the San Francisco Bay — on May 8, 2025. The demonstration, the company stated, showcased MightyFly’s autonomous cargo aircraft and its patented Autonomous Load Mastering System (ALMS). The Cento aircraft executed a mission relevant to the US Department of Defense, demonstrating autonomous flight, cargo loading, unloading and onboard package handling and balance management.

The Cento (N258MF) transported two large boxes from origin to destination. Before takeoff, the ALMS-equipped aircraft autonomously positioned and secured the packages into its cargo compartment. The aircraft then closed its nose cone, took off, flew to the destination, landed and ejected the packages without human intervention. It then continued to a third destination.

The demonstration also included autonomous handling of representative packages across key sectors, including healthcare, retail, logistics, manufacturing, disaster relief, and defense.

The recent Presidential Executive Order ("Unleashing American Drone Dominance," June 6, 2025) supporting domestic eVTOL adoption highlights the use of these aircraft for “medical response, cargo transport, and rural access” missions, which align with MightyFly’s model. This policy presents a timely opportunity for MightyFly as the company positions itself as a national asset in next-generation logistics, offering high efficiency services, minimal infrastructure requirements and low operational costs for both commercial and defense applications, MightyFly stated.

For the demonstration, MightyFly used two small turbine engines mounted at the rear to provide forward thrust, instead of its standard large, single, two-bladed pusher propeller. A MightyFly spokesperson explained to Vertiflite: "They are a short term solution to de-risk the aircraft towards transition flights."

MightyFly’s mission is to provide fast, affordable and low-emissions expedited deliveries to businesses and governments. MightyFly is a provider of expedited logistics services and a leading manufacturer and operator of autonomous, fixed-wing, hybrid eVTOL cargo aircraft with payload capacities of 100 lb (45 kg) and 500 lb (227 kg), a range of 600 miles (965 km), and a speed of 150 mph (240 km/h).

As noted in the VFS World eVTOL Aircraft Directory, "cento" means "100" in Italian and stands for the drone's maximum payload weight of 100 lb. It has an empty weight of 396 lb (180 kg) and has a maximum takeoff weight of 550 lb (250 kg). The aircraft can haul 212 UPS small packages and the cargo bay's dimensions are 72 L x 18.5 W x 19.5 H inches (182 L x 47 W x 49 H cm).

Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, MightyFly was founded in 2019 with backing from Draper Associates, At One Ventures, 500 Startups, Global Founders Capital, Graph Ventures, Halogen Ventures and Side Door Ventures. The company was named a “Top Supply Chain Startup to Watch'' in 2022 by Business Insider.

To learn more about MightyFly, its Cento aircraft and point-to-point expedited logistics services, visit www.mightyfly.com.