The flight test campaign of Aska's four-seat eVTOL aircraft is now in full swing, with a full-scale prototype making several tethered hover flights every day at an airfield in California.
Since its first successful hover tests in June, the A5 prototype has been flying about five times per day, Aska co-founder and chief operating officer Maki Kaplinsky told AIN. The A5 vehicle, which Aska refers to as a “flying SUV,” is designed to operate both in the air and on public roads, and the company plans to begin delivering the vehicle to customers in 2026.
The full-scale A5 prototype has successfully demonstrated its hovered thrust capabilities over the past few weeks, with the vehicle lifting off vertically and maintaining a stable hover position for up to 30 seconds, Kaplinsky said. Although the company previously predicted that untethered tests would start in July, all flights have been tethered so far. Aska's engineers are still “optimizing the flight control for stable hovering,” Kaplinsky said.
In June, California-based Aska obtained an FAA certificate of authorization and a special airworthiness certificate, clearing the way for the company to begin flight tests with its first A5 prototype. For the past several months, the company has also been testing the vehicle on roads, driving it around the neighborhood of its Mountain View headquarters in Silicon Valley. In a statement issued July 20, Aska reported that the prototype had logged more than 300 miles during driving tests.
According to Aska, data from the early flight test campaign will be used to prepare the company's application for a G-1 issue paper it will need from the FAA to advance the Part 21.17 (b) type certification process, which it formally began in November. Following the first untethered hover tests, Aska will expand the flight envelope with a transition from hover mode to cruise flight.
The hybrid-electric A5 vehicle is about the size of a standard SUV, and it’s small enough to fit in garages and parking spaces with its wings stowed. Transitioning to flight mode, two sets of large wings unfurl from the top of the fuselage. Mounted on those wings are six propellers with electric motors that are powered by a combination of batteries and a gasoline-powered engine, which recharges the batteries in flight and extends the vehicle’s maximum range. According to Aska, the A5 will have a flight range of about 250 miles (400 kilometers) and a maximum airspeed of 150 mph (240 kph).
Operators of the A5, which requires a pilot’s license to fly, will be able to drive up to a helipad or runway to take off. The aircraft can take off and land vertically like a helicopter, but it can also take off and land conventionally like a fixed-wing airplane and requires only 250 feet (76 meters) of runway. For a conventional takeoff, the A5 uses in-wheel motors and thrust from the tilting propellers to take flight in about five seconds.
Aska, a company formerly known as New Future Transportation (NFT), is marketing the A5 as a personal vehicle for licensed pilots as well as a ridesharing vehicle for commercial air taxi operations. Earlier this year the company announced its plans to support on-demand ridesharing flights with the A5 as early as 2026, with commercial pilots renting the aircraft to transport passengers. At the time, Kaplisnky told AIN that Aska’s ridesharing services would be handled by a separate company with a Part 135 air carrier certificate and that Aska would not operate the ridesharing business itself.
So far Aska says it has registered more than $50 million worth of pre-orders from prospective A5 customers since the company began taking orders in 2021. The A5 has a price tag of $789,000, which includes the cost of pilot training. Customers interested in purchasing the aircraft can reserve one by placing a refundable $5,000 deposit through the company’s website.
Next week, Aska is demonstrating the A5 as part of the Monterey Car Week event. On August 16, the vehicle will attend the Motorlux event, followed by the Exotics on Broadway event on August 19.
