On Wednesday Shanghai-based\u00a0AutoFlight<\/a>\u00a0shared the video of its revamped eVTOL proof-of-concept (POC#2)\u00a0Prosperity I air taxi at work in the first of 30 successive test flights that began in April. The footage comes three months after the company\u2019s\u00a0first POC#1 flights<\/a>. During the interim, AutoFlight developers tweaked the piloted craft\u2019s lift-and-cruise configuration to enhance performance. Officials hope to have the definitive design of the plane ready by the third quarter of this year.<\/p>\n AutoFlight\u2019s POC#2 version of the\u00a0eVTOL air taxi<\/a>\u00a0uses improved\u00a0lifting propellers to give Prosperity I higher hover efficiency. Two pushing propellors that were previously on either side of the\u00a0air taxi<\/a>\u00a0were replaced with a single center propellor and twin motors to enhance cruising abilities. In addition to the pilot, Prosperity I is configured to carry up to three passengers over a maximum range of 250 km at cruising speeds of 200 km\/h.<\/p>\n Read:<\/strong>\u00a0China\u2019s AutoFlight opens EU eVTOL air taxi R&D, testing unit<\/a><\/p>\n Development of Prosperity I is AutoFlight\u2019s first foray into piloted eVTOL air taxi activity, having\u00a0\u00a0previously produced<\/a>\u00a0cargo drones<\/a>, and one autonomous passenger craft. The company kicked its new program into higher gear last year by\u00a0establishing a unit<\/a>\u00a0in Germany to oversee testing, and prepare certification procedures with European Union regulators.\u00a0<\/p>\n AutoFlight recruited Mark R. Henning, a former\u00a0Airbus<\/a>\u00a0executive and 26-year aviation industry veteran to oversee those efforts, which appear to have produced relatively quick results.<\/p>\n \u201cPOC#2 is a new milestone for us, and we are pleased to have achieved over 30 successful transitions in the last few weeks with a full-size aircraft,\u201d Henning said. \u201cThis further demonstrates the great potential of our lift and cruise configuration which combines simplicity and safety. We will encompass all these key experiences and learnings into the final, full scale, design of Prosperity I which we will be revealing later this year.\u201d<\/p>\n Read<\/strong>:\u00a0AutoFlight\u2019s Prosperity I eVTOL air taxi passes transition test [Video]\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n Earlier last year, the company got another boost in the form of a $100 million in investment from Berlin-based European tech company Team Global. AutoFlight hopes to continue swift development of Prosperity I in time to put\u00a0the eVTOL air taxi<\/a>\u00a0into\u00a0commercial service<\/a>\u00a0in 2026.<\/p>\n![\"YouTube](\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/o3t40KcnMBo\/hqdefault.jpg\")
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