Meet Cavorite X7: An aircraft that can hover like a helicopter and fly like a plane

What if an aircraft could lift off like a helicopter, fly like a plane, and still be compact enough to land on a building’s roof — all in one trip? Canada-based Horizon Aircraft has created one such unique flying machine. It is called the Cavorite X7, and it is the first eVTOL to transition smoothly from hover to stable winged flight using hidden fans inside its wings.

While Most eVTOLs look like futuristic drones with lots of spinning rotors and short range, the X7 is different. It’s designed to look and operate like a conventional airplane, but with a clever twist. When space is tight, it can take off and land vertically, without any runway. 

Its interesting design allows it to land on hospital rooftops, helipads, or even aircraft carriers. Plus, with a top speed of 288 miles per hour and a range of 500 miles, X7 can cover five times the distance of many electric air taxis. 

“The Cavorite X7’s unique fan-in-wing design combines the agility and versatility of a helicopter with the speed and strength of a conventional aircraft,” the Horizon Aircraft team notes.

A hybrid eVTOL with hidden fans

Generally, aircraft are designed either for hovering (like helicopters) or smooth forward flight (like planes). Most air taxi prototypes today use exposed rotors or tiltrotors to switch between the two modes. However, such designs have struggled with safety, range, noise, and regulatory approval. That’s where Horizon’s design stands out.

The Cavorite X7 utilizes 14 electric fans, hidden within both its wings and forward canards (small winglets positioned near the nose). These fans enable the aircraft to lift straight up, similar to a drone. However, once airborne, special sliding panels on the aircraft’s wings close to cover the fans, allowing the eVTOL to fly forward just like a regular plane.

An important thing to remember here is that X7 uses battery power to run its 14 hidden wing fans during vertical takeoff, hovering, and landing. However, as soon as it’s airborne, a gas turbine engine drives its rear propeller.  This engine also recharges the batteries that power the fans during flight, meaning the aircraft can land with a full charge, ready to fly again without needing to plug in.

This hybrid flight solves two major problems that most electric aircraft face: short range and long charging times. This is why, compared to conventional air taxis, the Cavorite X7 can go five times farther — but this is not the best part.

The Horizon Aircraft team claims that their aircraft is also built with safety in mind. Its 14 fans are isolated, so if one fails, others can take over. In fact, in tests, the aircraft could hover even with 30% of its fans shut down. Plus, if the plane slows down too much in mid-air, the wings automatically open and the fans kick in, preventing a stall.

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“From a certification perspective, what I like about our design specifically is that we can talk to the FAA regulators and say, ‘Look, this is a normal airplane. It never has to be a VTOL. The VTOL portion of this airplane is just a layer of safety on top. It’s automated. If you go too slow, instead of the airplane stalling, the wings open, and it hangs out. It’s good to go,” Brandon Robinson, co-founder and CEO of Horizon Aircraft, told New Atlas.

An all-weather aircraft with decent cargo capacity

With just a 50-foot wingspan and a 38-foot fuselage, Cavorite X7 can easily land in a wide range of settings, ranging from crowded city helipads to remote isolated rooftops. Making it ideal for both urban air travel and delivering emergency supplies to hard-to-reach disaster zones.

When it comes to load capacity, the aircraft is built to carry six passengers and a pilot, with a maximum takeoff weight of 5,500 lbs (2,500 kg). It can lift 1,500 lbs (680 kg) of cargo during vertical takeoff, or up to 1,800 lbs (815 kg) when launching from a runway.

However, the X7 is still awaiting certification from aviation authorities. So it could take some time before we see this unique aircraft taking to the skies. If approved for commercial flight, it would become the first aircraft of its kind to be cleared for both visual and instrument flying, in all weather conditions.

Cavorite X7 is “engineered for maximum safety in all weather, with flight into known icing conditions (cold, wet weather conditions) as a certification goal,” the Horizon Aircraft team added.