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LAS VEGAS, Nev. – A two-seat hybrid electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft dubbed a “heavy drone” in France is set to begin flight testing in the United States, the executive behind the project said Tuesday.
“We are planning to start flight tests of the JP1 in April,” Théo Parant, CEO and co-founder of DTA Americas, said in an interview.
The company was established in Arizona this year as a subsidiary of DTA France, which has been building ultralight aircraft, including gyroplanes and trikes, since 1990.
Parant said the JP1 was registered as a drone in France because of government regulations. “In fact, it was the heaviest drone in the country,” he quipped.
Although the JP1 has already logged 200 hours of flight testing in France, the company will begin the process anew in the U.S. because of a “different administrative path” toward certification, Parant said.
The aircraft is on display at NBAA-BACE, the business aviation industry’s largest convention, which opened Tuesday.
“We’ve brought a real aircraft that can fly,” Parant said as visitors stopped to take photos. “Not a startup with a mockup” is the company’s slogan, printed on its brochure.
The company says the JP1 can fly for two hours at full payload. It has a range of 180 miles with two people on board and up to 235 miles with one occupant. Other features include an airframe parachute, a hybrid powertrain and an autopilot.
DTA is targeting private pilots who could use the aircraft for recreation or as a “modern-day two-seat helicopter,” Parant said.
“I am not very happy with the term ‘flying helicopter,’ but in a way that is what this aircraft will be used for,” he said.
The JP1 will be a new entrant in the U.S. eVTOL market, but Parant stressed that DTA is not “starting from scratch.”
He said the company has decades of aviation experience, with nearly 600 aircraft deployed worldwide. DTA France continues to maintain those aircraft and provide after-sales support, he said.
The company is taking orders for the JP1 with a $12,000 deposit, of which $10,000 is refundable. The launch edition is expected to be available in 2028 at $385,000, DTA said.