Wingcopter has received the Special Class Airworthiness Criteria for the Wingcopter 198 US unmanned aircraft from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), marking a significant step forward in the certification process for Wingcopter’s flagship electric Vertical Take Off and Landing (eVTOL) delivery drone in the United States.
Under title 14, Code of Federal Regulations, the FAA establishes technological requirements that must be completed in order for an aircraft type to be approved for regular commercial operations in the United States.
The Wingcopter 198 was built from the ground up to meet high safety criteria, in addition to its efficient design for commercial and humanitarian delivery missions. Wingcopter was able to draw on more than five years of operational expertise with the company’s initial delivery drone type in a variety of environments, ranging from the Arctic to the Middle East desert, and from remote islands in the South Pacific to San Diego Bay in the United States.
Wingcopter has worked extensively with the FAA since submitting for the Special Class Type Certificate in March 2020. Wingcopter may now concentrate its development efforts even more on what the FAA considers required for this aircraft to gain certification fast and efficiently.
Once type-certified, Wingcopter will be able to fly conventional routes through airspace and over populated areas, ultimately providing the basis for scaling commercial drone delivery operations across the US that will help save and improve lives. The certification is expected to also have a positive impact on Wingcopter’s further certification efforts such as with ANAC in Brazil or JCAB in Japan.
