Bell, February 17, 2020 - On January 16, the Bell Autonomous Pod Transport APT 70 flew its first Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) flight path 10 miles at Choctaw Nation test site under the Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration Pilot Program (UASIPP).
The vehicle also completed an 18 mile flight with 60lbs of payload at Bell’s testing site near Fort Worth, Texas.
To date, the APT 70 flight test program has completed over 120 flights. The program will continue to test the vehicles’ endurance, range capabilities, and expand the mission sets.
“Our partnership with Choctaw under the UASIPP has allowed us to push the boundaries on our eVTOL technology,” said John Wittmaak, program manager, UAS. “By unlocking new performance capabilities, APT 70 will provide unparalleled mission sets for our customers.”