Beta Technologies and Blade Air Mobility jointly announced what they call the “historic” first New York metropolitan-area flight today (Feb. 14) of Beta’s Alia-250 prototype electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. The aircraft took off conventionally, but did have the lift propellers installed, according to Beta. There are two prototype aircraft, the company said. “One test is configured for vertical takeoff and landing and one is configured for conventional takeoff and landing, since the aircraft will spend about 98 percent of flight time on the wing.”
Also known as an electrical vertical aircraft (EVA) and with a capacity of up to six occupants, the prototype made two flyovers down the runway at Westchester County Airport (KHPN). The two partner companies assess the decibel level of the aircraft in vertical-flight mode to be 1/10th that of conventional helicopters.
In April 2021, Blade announced an agreement to “facilitate the purchase of up to 20 of Beta’s first passenger-configured Alia-250 aircraft by its network of operators.” Blade, which currently provides services using conventional helicopters, said it plans to use the first Alia-250s within its network of terminals in the U.S. Beta has agreed to develop and install charging infrastructure at “key locations.”
As for the demonstration flight, a Beta spokesperson told AVweb, “Alia took off at 9:07 a.m., and completed two laps before touching back down at 9:20 a.m.” Of arguably more interest, she said the all-electric prototype flew the 250 nautical miles to KHPN from Beta’s facility in Plattsburgh, New York, with one stop. The spokesperson added, “We have also flown this prototype aircraft on multiple thousand-mile-plus missions, including from Plattsburgh to Bentonville, Arkansas, and to Louisville, Kentucky—charging on our own charging infrastructure, which we’re building out in parallel with our aircraft.” She said the Alia-250 takes less than an hour to recharge.
Blade currently provides services around the world. Rob Wiesenthal, Blade CEO, said, “This demonstration is a big milestone in our transition from helicopters to electric vertical aircraft, and we are pleased that our partners at Beta have designed the right aircraft with the requisite range, capacity, and noise profile, for use in our key markets, including our home base of New York City. We are confident EVAs will be a game-changer both for our company and New York City’s transportation system once certified by the FAA.”
Kyle Clark, Beta’s founder and CEO, said, “We continue to progress our aircraft, flying real-life missions and gaining proficiency in the national airspace. We were glad to be able to fly here from our flight test facility in Plattsburgh to work with Blade to operationalize our partnership.”

Elroy Air, a company that designs and develops autonomous vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft called Chaparral, has secured a commitment from LCI, a subsidiary of Libra Group, to purchase up to 40 of the aircraft. Deposits have already been paid for the first 20 vehicles. With this agreement, Elroy Air has now received more than $2 billion in aircraft purchase demand for over 900 Chaparral systems from various sectors including commercial, defense, and humanitarian. Chaparral is a VTOL aircraft made of carbon fiber and designed for long-range aerial transportation of up to 500 pounds of goods. It is capable of fitting in a shipping container or cargo plane, allowing for easy deployment anywhere in the world. The aircraft is powered by a hybrid-electric powertrain and has specially designed cargo pods. Applications for Chaparral include disaster relief, firefighting, and humanitarian operations without the risk to pilots or need for airport infrastructure.
In addition, Elroy Air has recently moved its flight testing facility to Byron Airport in California, to support full-scale ground and flight testing. The company has also partnered with Urban Air Mobility, a joint venture between MS Commercial Inc. and Nearon Enterprises, to lease and prepare a new 7,000-square-foot hangar at the airport for its testing campaigns. The hangar is equipped with a large storage and work area, the first production Chaparral aircraft (C1-1) and thanks to the aircraft's wing stowing mechanism, multiple C1 systems can be housed and maintained in the hangar. With this new agreement and facility, Elroy Air is well-positioned to continue developing and testing its advanced VTOL technology for use in a wide range of applications.
In addition, the agreement with LCI will also strengthen LCI's position as a leading provider of leasing, financing and investing solutions for the advanced air mobility market. With this new partnership, both companies are well-positioned to continue developing and testing their advanced VTOL technology for use in a wide range of applications, and to bring this innovative technology to market for the commercial, defense and humanitarian sectors. This partnership is a clear indication of the growing interest and demand for VTOL aircraft and the potential for this technology to transform the way goods and cargo are transported in the future.
which includes the company Elroy Air, the development of Chaparral VTOL aircraft, the purchase commitment from LCI, the amount of money secured, the features of the Chaparral aircraft, the various application, and the partnership with Urban Air Mobility.

The eVTOL is designed as a full-composite structure and offers two variants. One is powered by a hybrid-electric powertrain, while the second is provided with twin turboprop engines. Both these are engineered to support both SAF and hydrogen in the future. The aircraft can achieve a top speed of 230 mph(370 km/h) and maintain a maximum cruising altitude of 3,962m. The standard range of the aircraft is 590 miles (950 km), and it offers an extended range of 807 miles (1300 km) with an additional fuel tank.

The aircraft features a high wing configuration, is unpressurized, and comes equipped with a retractable tricycle landing gear. "It’s able to perform a jump take-off and no-roll landing without the need of a runway, making it a highly versatile passenger and cargo craft, fit for a wide range of use cases."
LINX P9 is pitched as an answer to new perspectives on the future of aviation. According to the firm, sustainability and efficient transport are central focus points across the globe. It is high time we address them by "reducing urban traffic, improving safety and reliability, and shifting away from fossil fuels".

The company claims that the aircraft design offers a 40 percent more cost-effective alternative to helicopters (based on the DARPA model) and a 30 percent increased range compared to similar-size helicopters (based on the Roskam method). “It’s a very exciting design concept that is the ultimate solution for the market, that is affordable, safe and practical, whilst providing the right answer to the current environmental concerns," said ARC's CEO, Seyed Mohseni.

What's next for LINK P9? Bringing it to market. For this, test models have to be developed to optimize the design. Currently, ARC has completed a 100 percent scale test for their C-150 craft – "proving their ability to make their designs a reality". Mohseni is confident the LINX P9 meets the needs of the market.

“Development of an air vehicle requires dedication to understand clients’ needs in five to 50 years in the future, and define a road map of a timely certifiable technology to achieve solutions for those needs.”