Not a Pilot? Not a problem.

Our Skyfly Training Centre can teach you from your first flying lesson all the way to flying your new Axe. We can help you complete your PPL course whilst your Axe is being manufactured – so that when it is delivered, you are all set to go. Alternatively you can learn on your own aircraft.

With the aircraft’s 2-seat side by side layout, the Axe is perfectly suited for training new pilots. New regulations for Permit aircraft allow you to learn to fly in your own Axe, which gets you well-accustomed to your new aircraft.

What licence?

Because of its unique canard wing design, you can fly the Axe with a normal airplane pilot’s licence. eVTOL pilot’s licences do not yet exist – there are only pilot licences for airplanes with wings, and helicopters.

Axe training courses

Skyfly will host our customers at our training centre, helping you to go from zero experience to obtaining your full pilot’s licence – and better still, you can learn on your own aircraft. Existing pilots will go through differences training to type.

Maintenance training

Having built your Axe, you will already have a very good idea of how the aircraft is built and where maintenance is required. Due to our simple design and modular construction, maintenance is very straight forward.

Servicing the future commercial eVTOL pilot demand with the Axe

The Axe is the go to training aircraft to deliver effective pilot training to facilitate the rising demand for eVTOL aircraft pilots. With the aircraft’s 2-seat side by side layout, the aircraft is perfectly suited for training new pilots.

Cost

The cost of running electric aircraft is cheaper than piston or turbine aircraft. Electric motors have fewer moving parts, require less maintenance, and cheap(er) electricity means costs may fall by more than half compared to existing piston and turbine alternatives. The Permit to Fly regime offers more flexibility on costs and means that the Axe can be maintained and inspected, and have their Permits to Fly renewed annually, by the Light Aircraft Association. Flight training organisations are not tied into expensive service centres.

Usability

The aircraft is fitted with a removable battery module which enables you to continue flying, even when the main battery has run out. This enables you to have shorter charge times on your main battery pack and quicker turnaround times on the ground. If equipped with a hybrid generator, your training aircraft is capable of competing with existing piston training alternatives. Furthermore, with removable wings, the Axe can be transported on a trailer giving flight training organisations ultimate flexibility on where they train students.

Safety

Multiple motors enable you to have redundancy in critical flight phases. If one motor fails, you can still fly safely. Compared to a single engine helicopter where there is only a single source of power, distributed propulsion is a proven safety feature. Furthermore, brushless electric motors have far fewer moving parts than conventional piston or turbine engines, and fewer and critical components that can fail. Finally, with the Axe can glide like a fixed-wing airplane in emergencies and has the back-up of a ballistic parachute.

Market size – Estimated £2.25 Billion up to 2028 and rising

The global aviation industry has struggled to recruit and train enough experienced pilots to fill the cockpits of airlines, business aviation and helicopter operators. There is a growing industry realisation that the development of EVTOL aircraft and launch of AAM operations will further increase demand for professional pilots commencing by 2023-2025. (CAE 2021 Report)

It is forecast that there will be a requirement for around 60,000 pilots for the UAM sector by 2028.

See McKinsey & Company report on rising pilot requirements.

With our route to certification and operating costs, running costs will remain low, enabling flight schools a cost effect aircraft to train pilots in this new sector of aviation.

Permit Aircraft for Flight Training

CAA regulation on flight training in Permit aircraft changed in 2020 with the release of ORS4 No.1271. This enables new owners to be trained on their own Permit aircraft and existing licence holders to be able to carry out training and differences training on Permit aircraft.

Extract from CAA statement:

“After substantial consultation with internal and external stakeholders, we now allow flight instruction and self-fly hire to utilise aircraft flying in accordance with a National Permit to Fly subject to specified conditions. This relaxation has been published through an additional General Permission and is designed to sit alongside the General Permission already in place for Type Approved microlight’s and gyroplanes.

This permission does not apply to flight instruction and examination where the recipient does not hold a licence, except when the recipient is:

The registered owner or joint-owner, or
A registered shareholder of the company of which owns the aircraft, or
Is the spouse or child of a registered sole or joint owner.”