North Texas-based Qarbon Aerospace on Monday announced a partnership with LIFT Aircraft to build and fully integrate LIFT’s personal eVTOL aircraft, Hexa.
The manufacturing of the aircraft by Qarbon will capitalize on the company’s experience providing large, complex composite and metallic structural components for the aviation industry, according to the press release. Qarbon currently manufactures the Hexa’s carbon fiber structure at its Thailand facility, although the full integration of the aircraft will occur in Red Oak, Texas.
Hexa is a single-seat, amphibious eVTOL multicopter that is powered by a fully electric propulsion system with 18 overhead propellers. LIFT plans to operate the ultralight aircraft under an experience-based model, where anyone who undergoes training can take it for short flights in controlled environments.
Austin, Texas-based LIFT was established by Matt Chasen, founder of the online shipping marketplace uShip, and announced its concept back in 2018. Last year, the company joined the U.S. Air Force’s Agility Prime initiative to accelerate development of the U.S. commercial eVTOL industry, and has conducted multiple flight demonstrations for the program.
In addition to performing complete system integration, Qarbon said it will also provide supply chain sourcing for the Hexa aircraft, making Qarbon the end-to-end manufacturer for LIFT’s product.
“This integration and assembly work expands upon the strong existing relationship between Qarbon Aerospace and the LIFT Aircraft team,” stated Pete Wick, Qarbon’s CEO. “This program is another great example of the versatility and capability of the Qarbon Aerospace team, and we are very proud that LIFT has placed their confidence in us to support them as the manufacturer of choice for their first-to-market eVTOL aircraft.”
