BRISTOL, United Kingdom,
Oct. 4, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Vertical
Aerospace ("Vertical"), the aerospace and technology company that
is pioneering electric aviation, announces that Justin 'Jif' Paines
has joined the company as Chief Test Pilot. Jif joins Vertical from
Joby Aviation, where he held the same role for the past three
years.
Paines has an unrivalled understanding of the technical aspects
of developing and piloting ground-breaking V/STOL (vertical and/or
short take-off and landing) aircraft. Holding a Masters degree in
Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT,
he had a distinguished career in the Royal Air Force, including
exchange duties with the US Air Force. While a test pilot in
the RAF he pioneered development and flight test of a revolutionary
V/STOL vehicle control system which affords increased safety,
improved vehicle performance, and reduced pilot workload and
training cost. This technology was later adopted by Lockheed Martin
for the Joint Strike Fighter program.
Paines has evaluated some of the most sophisticated
aircraft in the world, including the Harrier, the 'X-35'
experimental X-plane, the UK's fly-by-wire VAAC Harrier test bed,
and the Joby S4.
Paines' decision to join Vertical's team, alongside its
commercial partners such as American Airlines, Virgin Atlantic,
Avolon and Bristow further
enhances Vertical's leadership in the eVTOL sector and
demonstrates confidence by one of the world's leading test
pilots in the certification and commercialisation of Vertical's
eVTOL, the VA-X4. He will be based at Vertical's innovation and
development facility in Bristol,
in the heartland of British aerospace and manufacturing, where he
joins a proven and experienced team from some of the world's
leading aerospace and technology businesses including Airbus,
Rolls-Royce and Jaguar.
Paines is expected to conduct the first piloted flight of the
VA-X4, in 2022 and today's announcement adds to the significant
momentum in the business. Vertical recently announced that its
conditional pre-order book had increased up to 1,350 aircraft with
an estimated value of $5.4bn; an
orderbook which exceeds that of every other eVTOL company in the
world.
Stephen Fitzpatrick, founder and
CEO said: "Justin brings over three decades of outstanding
expertise in piloting some of the world's most iconic aircraft. He will be a key part of
the team that takes our VA-X4 through to certification and we are
tremendously excited to have him aboard our growing team."
Justin Paines said: "Vertical has an amazing team of
engineers, the right design approach, and partnerships with the
some of the best aerospace and airline companies in the world. This
combination is what attracted me to Vertical and I am totally
confident in their ability to deliver a certified aircraft that
will transform aviation."
About Vertical Aerospace
Vertical Aerospace is
pioneering electric aviation. The company was founded in 2016 by
Stephen Fitzpatrick, an established
entrepreneur best known as the founder of the Ovo Group, a leading
energy group and Europe's largest
independent energy retailer. Over the past five years, Vertical has
focused on building the most experienced and senior team in the
eVTOL industry, who have over 1,700 combined years of engineering
experience, and have certified and supported over 30 different
civil and military aircraft and propulsion systems.
Vertical's unrivalled top-tier partner ecosystem is expected to
de-risk operational execution and its pathway to certification,
allow for a lean cost structure and enable production at scale.
Vertical has received conditional pre-orders for a total of up to
1,350 aircraft from American Airlines, Avolon, Bristow and Iberojet, which includes pre-order
options from Virgin Atlantic and Marubeni, and in doing so, is
creating multiple potential near term and actionable routes to
market. In June 2021, Vertical
Aerospace announced a SPAC merger with Broadstone Acquisition Corp
(NYSE: BSN).
About VA-X4 eVTOL Aircraft
The four passenger, one
pilot VA-X4 is projected to have speeds up to 200mph, a range over
100 miles, near silent when in flight, zero operating emissions and
low cost per passenger mile. The VA-X4 is expected to open up
advanced air mobility to a whole new range of passengers and
transform how we travel. Find out more:
www.vertical-aerospace.com
About Broadstone Acquisition Corp.
Broadstone
Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: BSN) was set up by serial entrepreneurs,
operators and investors, Hugh
Osmond, Edward Hawkes and
Marc Jonas. It was established to
combine with a UK/European business with a strong management team,
significant growth prospects, and the opportunity to become a
market leader in its sector. Broadstone's executive team has an
extensive track record in value creation. The combination of a
strong internal team, a network of external resources and the
experience of the management team enables us to support rapid,
substantial, and lasting growth.
About Justin Paines
Justin Paines was educated at
Oxford University and holds a Masters
degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT. He spent sixteen years with the Royal Air
Force, during which he graduated from the US Air Force Test Pilot
School as Distinguished Graduate in 1995. His career as a
test pilot focused on V/STOL flight control research and
development. Paines pioneered a number of innovations in V/STOL
technology including conducting the flight test that led to the
adoption of the radical "Unified" V/STOL flight control strategy
for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, and the development and flight
test of F-35 "Ship Rolling Vertical Landing" technology with the
UK's fly by wire Harrier testbed. Justin has served as chief
instructor at the Empire Test Pilots' School, carried out custom
flight test services and from 2018 to 2021 was Chief Test Pilot at
Joby Aviation, conducting intensive flight test of the Joby S4
eVTOL.
For more information
Vertical Aerospace – UK/Europe - Nepean
Gavin Davis
- gdavis@nepean.co.uk
Samuel Emden
- semden@nepean.co.uk / +447816 459 904
Vertical Aerospace – USA -
FTI
Hamm Hooper & Kayt Pitts –
verticalaerospace@fticonsulting.com / +1 773 786 7286
Broadstone - Edelman
Iain Dey - Broadstone@Edelman.com / +44 7976
295906
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SOURCE Vertical Aerospace
