The Japanese company that is developing an air taxi that could begin serving Augusta next year is providing demonstration flights.
SkyDrive has its model SD-05 at the Expo 2025 in Osaka, where it will hold a demonstration beginning July 31 and running the rest of the summer. This is the model Bravo Air, the private charter jet service based at Augusta Regional Airport, will get next year. Bravo Air and SkyDrive signed a letter of intent at the Fifth Annual Innovation XChange Forum last year for Bravo Air to buy five air taxis.
In early 2023, SkyDrive was one of a select group of advanced air mobility companies selected to demonstrate at this year’s Expo.
The upcoming flights are following the successful demonstration flight of the SkyDrive SD-05 conducted in early April.
“As a result of this opportunity, the successful demonstration of our aircraft at the Expo became one of SkyDrive’s key development milestones,” read the news release announcing the upcoming demonstration flights. “Since April, SkyDrive has continued with further development and testing, accomplishing a series of test flights without incident to confirm the safety of wider flight envelopes. As the capability of our aircraft advances, we are delighted to showcase it once again.”
SkyDrive set up a full-sized mockup of the SD-05 at the Expo, allowing people to sit inside and learn about what the air taxi can offer.
At that time, Pamela Davidson, CEO of Bravo Air, told ABD the advance will open up a new realm of aviation and the ability to transport passengers in an innovative way.
“These air taxis are going to give us a lot more mobility and ability to help people get where they need to go quickly,” she said. “Those little cars that we saw in the air for so long as cartoons have actually come out of the page and into real life. Once we get these prototypes developed and passed and into operations, I think it’ll just be the first of many iterations to come.”
SkyDrive has already completed one step necessary to build the aircraft in the U.S. In April 2024, the Federal Aviation Administration accepted the company’s type certificate (TC), which signifies the airworthiness of the design of the aircraft to be manufactured.
While preparing for demonstration flights at the Osaka Expo, the company has been rehearsing at the test facility in Yamaguchi City. The test flights were over both land and sea. The SD-05 holds three people, the pilot and two passengers. It has a range of nine miles on a full charge. With its vertical take off and landings, it required a small landing zone.
Between July 21 and Aug. 24, the SD-05 will fly from the EXPO Vertiport on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, with one or two flights scheduled every day between sunrise and sunset. After the demonstrations through August, SkyDrive will hold a series of demonstration flights at the OSAKAKO Vertiport starting in September.
Learn more about the company and the SD-05 at https://en.skydrive2020.com/
