Alright, aviation fans, let’s talk about a seriously cool moment: this past Thursday, May 15, Horizon Aircraft’s Cavorite X7 eVTOL prototype made history with a first-of-its-kind maneuver. It pulled off a flawless shift from vertical takeoff to cruising on wing power, thanks to a brilliant fan-in-wing design that’s next-level clever. Picture a craft that hovers like a helicopter but zooms like a jet—that’s the slick, game-changing energy the X7’s bringing to the skies.
The Cavorite X7 isn’t just another eVTOL trying to crowd the airspace. While big names like Joby Aviation or Archer are all about packing their rigs with multiple rotors, Horizon’s going rogue with fans tucked right into the wings. These bad boys blast air for vertical takeoffs and landings, then pivot or redirect that flow to let the wings take over for cruising like a classic plane. It’s the ultimate hybrid vibe—part chopper, part speedster—aiming to nail the hover game while zipping along with airplane-level efficiency.
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When Horizon brags about their “historic transition,” they’re talking about their large-scale X7 demonstrator nailing the tricky handoff from hovering straight up to gliding forward on wing power, all without nosediving into the dirt. That’s a big deal, folks. Switching between vertical and horizontal flight is like the kryptonite of eVTOLs, often needing crazy-complicated mechanics or software to avoid a crash. Horizon’s fan-in-wing setup, honed since their New Horizon Aircraft days, seems to have solved this riddle—at least in prototype form.
So, how does Horizon make this sci-fi dream work? The Cavorite X7 packs 14 fans cleverly tucked into its airframe—five per main wing and a pair in each forward canard, for those keeping score. These aren’t just any fans; they’re battery-powered for vertical lift, giving the X7 its helicopter-like chops.
The real genius lies in Horizon’s patented mechanism, which lets the wing surfaces slide open like a futuristic trapdoor to expose the fans during takeoff and landing, then slide shut for forward flight, transforming the X7 into a sleek, wing-borne plane. A gas-powered turbine engine at the rear takes over as the pusher prop, driving the craft at speeds up to 250 mph. It’s a mechanical ballet that sounds like it belongs in a Tony Stark workshop, and pulling it off without a hitch is no small feat.
This incredible achievement validates our unique and robust approach to the transition phase of flight. In our aircraft, the transition phase was designed from the beginning to be a non-event, as there are no complicated multi-copter rotating nacelles or heavy tilt-wing mechanisms, and we have multiple layers of redundancy. The result is an extremely safe and stable transition, a vital part of eVTOL operations, and an area in which many of our competitors have faced serious challenges,” said Brian Robinson, Chief Engineer and co-founder.
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