HEXA | LIFT Aircraft

The aircraft

HEXA

A single-seat, all-electric aircraft that takes off and lands vertically, designed from the start so anyone can fly it.

18independent electric motors

50 mphcruise speed

488 lbempty weight

1/10the noise of a helicopter

Design

Designed from first principles.

We started from a specific mission: short-range flights for one person. Wings would save a few minutes on trips that short, so we chose a pure, hover-optimized multirotor for maneuverability, wind resilience and redundancy. Three principles decided everything else.

01Safety firstWhen safety, cost and performance pull in different directions, safety wins.
02Simple to flyIntuitive enough to fly with little training and no specialized knowledge.
03Ultralight+Built to the FAA’s powered ultralight rules and their strict weight limit, then making full use of every FAA weight allowance.

Drag to turn

Explore the aircraft

42 in propellers high above the pilot. HEXA keeps flying with up to six out.
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Each motor has its own controller and battery, away from the pilot, so one fault stays one fault.
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Carries the rotors overhead, clear of the cockpit and people on the ground.
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A low-altitude, autonomous whole-aircraft parachute at the top of the crown.
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All-around visibility, fast boarding and less weight, with the pilot at the center of gravity.
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One joystick and a tablet. Fly-by-wire handles the rest.
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Four redundant flight computers, with GNSS and a radar altimeter.
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Take off from and land on water as well as land.
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Finite element analysis of HEXA's carbon-fiber crown: composite stress and deformation under load

Airframe and structure

Carbon fiber, built to 12 g

HEXA’s structure is monocoque carbon-fiber composite, where the shell itself carries the load. It’s light enough for the ultralight weight limit and strong well beyond what flight demands.

Monocoque carbon fiberComposite shells carry the loads themselves, with no heavy internal frame.
Designed and tested to 12 gThe structure is designed and tested to a 12 g ultimate load.
Folds for transportFrom 15 × 15 ft down to 9.6 × 7.7 ft, transportable in a box truck or high-cube ISO shipping container.
Crewed or uncrewedThe cockpit swaps for an uncrewed (UAS) module. A cargo version tested with the U.S. Air Force carries 350+ lb.

Amphibious

Safer over water

Floats are first a safety feature. Many of the best air mobility routes cross rivers, lakes and bays, and HEXA can set down safely on any of them. The same floats make water a normal place to take off and land, reach people where roads are cut by floods, and earn HEXA an extra 210 lb of weight allowance.

Land or waterThe same aircraft, with no change of gear, for both.
Water taxi modeMoves in any direction on the water, and holds position.
Crash energy absorberThe aerospace-foam-filled center float doubles as an energy absorber in a hard landing.
Redundant floatsSeven floats, six outer and one center: HEXA stays afloat with one compromised.

Powertrain

18 motors. Six to spare.

Eighteen electric motors, each with its own custom field-oriented-control (FOC) speed controller and 42-inch propeller. HEXA keeps flying with up to six motors out.

total power (6.9 kW each): 124 kW
total thrust (77 lb per motor): 1,386 lb
thrust to weight, empty: 2.8 : 1

Custom FOC speed controllersSmooth, quiet and efficient.
Flies with six outUp to six motors, three of them side by side.
42 in propellers16.5 in pitch, one per motor.

HEXA 3D model with its 18 battery packs highlighted, one under each motor

Batteries and charging

A battery for every motor

LIFT’s patented distributed battery system gives each of the 18 motors its own 0.54 kWh pack (9.7 kWh in all), mounted away from the pilot. A fault stays with one motor, and any thermal runaway is isolated.

Swapped in under 3 minutesGround crew swap a full set while the next one charges, so HEXA keeps flying.
Charged off the aircraftPortable charger cases at the flight site; no onboard charger saves 30+ lb.
Every cycle trackedPack data syncs to the cloud to manage each pack’s 500–800 cycle life.

See charging at a LIFT Base

Flight control and avionics

Built to aviation standards

HEXA's 4× redundant flight control computer is designed, built and tested to aviation certification standards (DO-178C, DO-254, DO-160G). Its four computers check each other continuously and reach every motor over two CAN buses and a separate PWM backup.

Military-grade GNSSPrecise, robust positioning and navigation.
Radar altimeterExact height above the ground or water.
ADS-B In and OutTraffic awareness: HEXA shares its position with nearby aircraft and sees theirs.
Dual-band ground linkRedundant 2.4 GHz and 900 MHz radio links to the ground station, with optional Starlink satellite.

Connected aircraft

Always connected, always in sync

Every HEXA carries triple-redundant 4G/5G cellular and Wi-Fi, with optional Starlink satellite. It syncs automatically with LIFT Ops: no cables, no manual downloads.

Live telemetryPosition, altitude, battery and system health, streamed in flight.
Live videoOnboard video for dispatch, ground control and Mission Control.
Automatic log downloadsEvery flight log uploads to LIFT Ops on its own.
Over-the-air updatesNew software, with no visit to the aircraft.

See LIFT Ops

Parachute

A last line of defense

HEXA is built around an autonomous ballistic parachute that brings the aircraft and pilot down together. It deploys on its own, and works from as low as 40 feet.

effective from, above ground: 40 ft
deployment time: [TBC]

Cockpit

One joystick, one screen

An open cockpit with a single joystick and an iPad display. The flight computer keeps HEXA stable, so the pilot only decides where to go.

Single joystickOne hand controls the whole flight, with one-tap buttons for takeoff, landing and return to home.
iPad displayA moving map with height, flight time left, battery and each flight step, and no-fly areas marked in red.

Flight modes and autonomy

From first flight to fully automatic

New pilots start in the most assisted mode and unlock more freedom as their skills grow, while Level 4 autonomy can take over the hardest parts of any flight.

Three flight modesBeginner, Intermediate and Expert: more freedom unlocks as a pilot’s skills grow.
Automated takeoff and landingSmooth, consistent climbs and touchdowns.
Return to homeOne command flies HEXA back to its launch point.
GeofencingKeeps every flight inside its approved area.

Advanced manufacturing

Printed, not tooled

More than 100 of HEXA’s parts are 3D printed. Additive manufacturing took us from a new design to first crewed flight in under 13 months, and keeps each new version fast to build.

parts 3D printed: 100+
from design to first crewed flight: <13 mo
lighter titanium crown bracket: 40%
safety factor on that bracket: 10×

3D-printed moulds

The first carbon-fiber canopy, crown and centroplane were laid up in large 3D-printed moulds, delivered in weeks instead of the months machined tooling takes.

Printed titanium

The motor mounts and crown brackets are 3D printed in titanium as certified aerospace parts. The crown’s ENDY bracket, topology-optimized for strength and weight, weighs 152 g instead of 250 g and holds the crown together through the 11.5 g shock of a parachute opening.

Specifications

HEXA at a glance

Category: FAA Part 103 Ultralight; public aircraft operations
Seats: 1
Top speed: 70 mph*
Cruise speed: 50 mph
Flight time: Up to 20 min
Range: Up to 16 mi
Max pilot weight: 250 lb
Empty weight: 488 lb with batteries (FAA-approved weight allowances)
Max takeoff weight: 738 lb
Dimensions: 15 × 15 × 8.6 ft (folds to 9.6 × 7.7 ft)
Propulsion: 18 electric motors, 124 kW total; 42 in propellers
Batteries: 18 battery packs, 9.7 kWh total
Charging: Swap in under 3 min (charge 60 min, 30 min fast)
Redundancy: Flies with up to 6 motors out; four flight computers
Connectivity: Triple-redundant 4G/5G cellular, Wi-Fi, optional Starlink; syncs automatically with LIFT Ops
Recovery system: Ballistic parachute, effective from 40 ft
Landing: Land or water (7 floats)
Weather limits: Wind to 25 mph (30 gusts); 0–120 °F; IP54
Noise: 69.6 dBA in cruise at 500 ft
Training: Less than 1 hour; no pilot’s license required

*Part 103 ultralight operations are limited to 62 mph. Public aircraft operations, such as public safety agencies, are not subject to that limit.

Testing and track record

Proven in the air

10,000+flights

5countries

700+first-time pilots

3years of public operations

World-first public eVTOL flightsMembers of the public flying HEXA themselves.
Tested with the U.S. Air ForceEvaluated through the AFWERX Agility Prime program.
World Expo 2025, OsakaFlight demonstrations at the World Expo in Japan.

One airframe, three editions

Where HEXA goes next

Every HEXA shares one proven airframe and thousands of hours of flight data, so each new edition builds on the last.

Flying today

HEXA-U Ultralight

The float-equipped model at LIFT flight centers. No pilot’s license required. Conformance with the FAA ultralight standard was verified by a LAMA technical standards committee.

In development

HEXA-S Sport

Built for the FAA’s new MOSAIC rules: up to 90 mph and 25 minutes, with flight over congested areas and at night.

Type certification planned

HEXA Certified Edition

For commercial air taxi service: fully autonomous flight, IFR weather operations and flights of up to 40 minutes.

Fly it yourself, or put it to work.

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