With the ability to carry up to 250 kg (551 lb) of payload at speeds up to 80 km/h (50 mph), the 12-rotor Seraph is Britain's leading electric VTOL air taxi candidate. Vertical Industries has released video of this chunky bird in flight.
The Seraph has 12 rotors, mounted coaxially on six arms. It appears to carry its battery in the roof, allowing air wash from the side propeller tips to cool the battery and electronics. Watching its beefy carbon composite body in flight, it's hard not to compare it to a bumblebee. Neither look like they have any business being in the air, and yet both appear to do the job just fine. Vertical Industries, based in Bristol, says the Seraph's carrying capacity of 250 kg represents the capability to carry up to three people – although it won't be doing so. Instead, the company, which now employs 70 people, is in the process of building and certifying a different, passenger-focused aircraft it hopes to fly in 2020.
