Over the summer of 2020, Vermont-based electric aircraft developer Beta Technologies unveiled its new eVTOL air taxi prototype, the Alia-250. This video digs into the innovative design, engineering, and overall conception of the striking new vertical-lift aircraft, which is modeled after one of the most aerodynamically efficient migratory birds in the world.

Company founder and CEO Kyle Clark—an aerospace engineer who once played as a professional hockey player—breaks down the challenges his team of engineers faced and the solutions this aircraft embodies.

We see the airplane in flight for the first time—though not in vertical-lift mode just yet, as the team focused first on understanding its conventional forward flight characteristics before returning soon to hover tests with the rotors installed, and eventually the transition between vertical and horizontal flight.

Stay tuned for that, as well as deeper dives into the propulsion technology inside the Alia-250, including its battery, motors, and control systems.

(Special thanks to the skilled pilots of Beta Technologies for their unfaltering willingness to take me up for great photo and video shoots of their airplane in action.)

Check out my original YouTube video about the first prototype, Ava:
   • Beta Technologies eVTOL Air Taxi Prot...  

And my recent story at eVTOLmag.com about Alia:
https://evtol.com/news/beta-alia-evto...

Also, my pieces about the company at Wired:
https://www.wired.com/story/beta-ava-...
https://www.wired.com/story/new-air-t...
https://www.wired.com/story/rest-stop...

Finally, check out my website for more images of this aircraft and plenty of other cool stuff: ericadams321.com