They say what is promised is debt. As Suzuki announced at the beginning of the year 2022, after signing a collaboration agreement with the Japanese Skydrive startup to develop and introduce, on a large scale, its flying vehicle for the year 2025, the Skydrive SD-05an electrical evtol that could be implemented as a means of public transport in some countries of the world.
The Skydrive SD-05 makes its first demonstration flights
To begin with, what is an evtol (Electric Take-Off and Landing? We talk about the abbreviation for electric takeoff and landing. As the name implies, Evol aircraft can take off and land without track. The EVTOL work with electricity and incorporate advanced automatic flight control technology.
This is the case of Skydrive SD-05 that, unlike a conventional helicopter, has a different proxis system, is driven by electricity and emits less noise in its operation. Recently presented in society on the occasion of the Universal Exhibition of Osaka 2025, as detailed by the brand itself “Unlike a standard drone, it has redundancy in all its parts to guarantee the same level of security as an aircraft.”
The idea is that the Skydrive SD-05 begins to perform flight services from next year 2028, with full expansion from 2030. Now, to be able to use the SkyDrive SD-05 within the open airspace it is necessary to change the current flight legislation. However, the brand has achieved a first G-1 certification by local authorities.
It refers to the steps that must be followed, and the requirements that must be met, so that a new aircraft receives the certification and between commercial operations. In the words of Arnaud CovilleSkydrive Development Director, this explains about the new milestone achieved by the company:
“We are pleased to announce that the JCAB has issued the G-1 certification bases that will be applied to our First Commercial Evtol aircraft. We have reached this important milestone thanks to a series of respectful and collaborative conversations with the JCAB. The issuance of these certification bases represents the culmination of a considerable effort invested for several months.”
“We are also delighted with the recent progress achieved in our Validation Project with FAA. Our aircraft prototype, which is currently in an extensive series of flight tests, continues to collect valuable data as we constantly advance towards the next demonstration flights in the Osaka Expo.”
Concludes: “As we advance in our certification roadmap and show the capabilities of our aircraft to the public, 2025 is emerging as an important year for Skydrive. We are pleased that the year has begun so well.”
In addition, in the next few weeks the Skydrive SD-05 will continue to make demonstration flights with departure from the “Osakako Vertiport”, a new take-off and landing installation for Evtol created for Expo 2025.
