Lilium Phoenix 2 demonstrator achieves main wing transition

It was announced on May 31 that Lilium N.V.’s (Munich, Germany) technology demonstrator, Phoenix 2, for the Lilium Jet, has achieved main wing transition. The company claims that it is the first full-size electric jet aircraft to transition from hover to wing-borne flight, a landmark moment for Lilium and for electric aviation.

From a flight physics perspective, completing transition means the airflow going over the flaps attached and becomes smooth, enabling the lift to be generated by the wing (as in conventional fixed-wing aircraft), rather than by the engines (which is the case during the hovering phase).

Phoenix 2 has now achieved this milestone across the entire main wing while, most importantly, remaining stable and behaving as predicted by Lilium’s proprietary Flight Dynamics Model.

“Main wing transition is a huge step forward on our path to launch and it validates our Flight Dynamics Model,” Matthias Meiner, Phonex chief engineer and Lilium co-founder emphasizes. “Full credit goes to the Lilium team who worked so hard to get us here, and who remain laser-focused on the rest of the Flight Test Campaign.”

Lilium says it will continue its Flight Test campaign throughout the summer, expanding the flight envelope further, including transition of the forward canards and high-speed flights.

In addition, according to Airframer, Lilium and Livent (Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.) have agreed to collaborate on the advancement of lithium metal technology for use in high-performance battery cells. The collaboration is an important step towards securing Lilium’s future access to the high-performance battery cell technology that will power Lilium Jets.