RAeS Handley Page Named Lecture 2026: Vertical Aerospace: British Innovation and EVTOL

Electric vertical flight is no longer a distant ambition. A new generation of full-scale electric aircraft capable of vertical take-off and landing is being designed, built and flown.  These aircraft bring together advances in batteries, electric propulsion, lightweight structures and highly integrated flight-control systems.

Britain has a long tradition of challenging established ideas about how aircraft should be designed and operated. Drawing on Vertical Aerospace’s experience of developing and flying electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft, Simon Davies will explore how British innovation is contributing to the emergence of this new class of aircraft—and how its enabling technologies have progressed from concept to reality.

The lecture will examine what electric propulsion makes possible, how it changes the architecture and behaviour of an aircraft, and why the close integration of propulsion, aerodynamics and flight controls lies at the heart of eVTOL development.

It will also consider the distinctive challenges of flight testing an aircraft required to hover, transition and fly efficiently on the wing. How can the envelope of such a novel configuration be expanded safely? How do simulation, ground testing and incremental flight testing combine to build confidence in the aircraft? And what must still be demonstrated before eVTOL can become a practical part of the aviation system?

This is the story of an emerging class of aircraft whose enabling technologies are no longer waiting in the future. They are here, they are flying—and they represent an exciting new chapter in Britain’s long history of aviation innovation.

Venue: Vincent Auditorium, Cranfield University, MK430AL

Networking registration: 18:00

Lecture start: 18:30