Flying Era's F2500 prototype rolls off line and is delivered, marking China's engineering breakthrough in range-extended full-tiltrotor eVTOL configuration | Unity Ventures Portfolio
Heavy payload, long endurance, high reliability, low noise
Unity Ventures portfolio company Flight Era has rolled out the first prototype of its F2500ERF, an extended-range fully tilt-rotor eVTOL developed entirely in-house — marking China's first engineering breakthrough in this product configuration.
Flight Era specializes in advanced eVTOL aircraft R&D, manufacturing, and application services, with a focus on intelligent electric vertical take-off and landing vehicles. As the first domestic company to adopt an extended-range powertrain combined with a fully tilt-rotor configuration, Flight Era has innovatively integrated range-extension systems with fully tilt-rotor architecture to build heavy-lift, long-endurance eVTOL products, accelerating the leap from "ground transportation" to "flight era."
On May 8, Unity Ventures portfolio company Flight Era successfully rolled out and delivered the first prototype of its F2500ERF, the inaugural product in its extended-range fully tilt-rotor eVTOL lineup. This milestone delivery marks China's first engineering breakthrough in the extended-range fully tilt-rotor eVTOL configuration.
The F2500 series innovatively combines extended-range powertrain technology with fully tilt-rotor architecture, delivering the vertical take-off, landing, and hovering flexibility of helicopters alongside the high-speed cruise efficiency and long range of fixed-wing aircraft. It adapts easily to complex airspace and diverse operating environments including mountainous regions, islands, and urban areas, with standout characteristics of heavy payload, long endurance, high reliability, and low noise.
The debut F2500ERF model features a maximum takeoff weight of 2.5 metric tons, payload capacity of 500 kg, and a fully loaded range of 500 km. With these capabilities, the F2500 series is positioned for core applications in urban air mobility, low-altitude logistics, and emergency rescue — providing robust infrastructure for diversified low-altitude economy use cases.
Following delivery of the first prototype (serial 001), the company has rapidly commenced testing and validation work ahead of first flight. The second prototype (002) is progressing through production and nearing rollout. The company is steadily advancing airworthiness certification and small-batch production, continuously building out its industrial foundation and market delivery capabilities.
Flight Era's core team brings together top-tier aviation research and technical experts from across China, anchored by former key technical personnel from a major aviation industry host institute, with all members holding degrees from the country's premier aeronautical, astronautical, and naval engineering universities. Founder and CEO Li Debiao has spent nearly two decades in the aviation industry, with complete development experience across multiple military and civilian aircraft programs. He combines state-owned enterprise technical R&D depth with private-sector market operations expertise, with particular strength in translating cutting-edge technologies into airworthiness-certified engineering products — forming a core competitive advantage of "state-team technical DNA plus market-tested execution capability."
Additionally, the founder and core team possess rare and deep design expertise spanning both fixed-wing and helicopter domains, together with the highest standards of safety-critical systems thinking, backed by a rich product pipeline. With full-cycle engineering development capabilities covering aircraft design, manufacturing, and flight test, as well as air vehicle development and complex systems engineering, they have established a solid technical foundation and talent base for the F2500 extended-range fully tilt-rotor program.
Going forward, Flight Era will continue focusing on core technology breakthroughs and product iteration, leveraging its deep aviation R&D heritage to continuously expand the F2500 product family and establish itself as the benchmark brand in extended-range fully tilt-rotor eVTOLs.
