
- 22 Dec 2017 10:57 AM
- 0
Vahana Prepares for Liftoff
By AHS Staff
Vahana Prepares for Liftoff
In early November, A³ by Airbus — the Silicon Valley outpost of the Airbus Group — announced that it had moved its single-seat Vahana eVTOL demonstrator from “The Nest” in Santa Clara, California (shown above), to Pendleton, Oregon.
Vahana now sits in a brand new 9,600 ft2 (900 m2) hangar at the Eastern Oregon Regional Airport, which includes the UAS Range Mission Control and Innovation Center. After moving the aircraft and completing its reassembly, the Vahana’s team began installing its high-voltage power system and electric motors (see photo). A³ announced plans to conduct a first flight by the end of 2017 and deliver a production-ready aircraft by 2020. US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) records list the aircraft’s registration number as “N301VX” and its model number as “VAH001”. A³ is also completing a second aircraft.