23 Daily — According to 36kr.com, on October 27, 2026, Chinese companies including Blue Sky Aviation achieved significant progress in the independent development of large-scale oil-electric hybrid extended-range eVTOL (tilt-rotor vertical takeoff and landing) aircraft. The aircraft is equipped with a fully domestically produced 800V piston aviation range extender and flight control subsystem, successfully completing a full tilt transition test flight. The flight range reached 1,000 km with a payload capacity of 700 kg, demonstrating China’s technological advances and commercial potential in long-range low-altitude VTOL equipment. This achievement aligns with China’s 15th Five-Year Plan emphasizing breakthroughs in hybrid power systems for new low-altitude equipment.
Blue Sky Aviation develops large extended-range oil-electric hybrid eVTOL aircraft
Wang Gang, founder and CEO of Blue Sky Aviation, explained that the company targets the large unmanned transport VTOL market to address the range limitation challenge. Addressing demand scenarios like express delivery, remote plateau/island/mountain transport, and emergency rescue—which require extended range and heavy payloads—the firm developed the LX-1 extended-range oil-electric hybrid eVTOL. The aircraft features a 1,000 km range, 700 kg effective payload, and economic cruise speed of 200-250 km/h, aimed at enabling half-day point-to-point delivery within a 1,000-km radius. By June 2026, the LX-1 had completed vertical takeoff, tilt transition, fixed-wing cruise, and reverse transition to vertical landing in full flight testing.
800V piston aviation range extender overcomes range bottleneck
The extended-range technology addresses the range limitations of purely electric eVTOLs. Blue Sky Aviation independently developed the SQ-120, an 800V piston aviation range extender rooted in a mature 1.5T turbocharged direct injection engine, paired with a newly developed 800V SiC aviation-specific generator assembly. It achieves a power density tuned for aviation, a continuous output of 120 kW, and oil-to-electric efficiency of 4 kWh/kg. The design supports high power density, wide voltage operation, and high-altitude insulation. The system dynamically switches power supply modes: pure electric or hybrid during vertical takeoff and landing (high power demand), and extended-range generator charging the battery continuously during cruise (lower power demand). This also protects battery life by minimizing deep charging cycles while ensuring power safety during landing and hovering. The entire hybrid powertrain and controller are 100% domestically developed.
Developing domestic flight control platforms for intelligent low-altitude operations
Sun Peng, General Manager of Jitai Aviation Technology, highlighted that enhancing intelligent flight capabilities is key to lowering operational costs and unlocking commercial value in low-altitude airspace. Focusing on eVTOLs and large freight drones, the company works on flight control system architectures and key technologies, guiding a transition from distributed federated systems to centralized, open computing and networking platforms. Core challenges include unstable communication beyond 300 meters altitude and insufficient environmental awareness. Jitai continues research in intelligent flight, sensor fusion, and decision support to enable safe, controllable, and scalable domestic avionics platforms.
Editor's take: Market and technical implications of China’s extended-range large eVTOL development
Blue Sky Aviation’s successful autonomous development and test flights of the 800V piston range extender and oil-electric hybrid eVTOL reveal a promising technical path to overcome pure electric range constraints for long-distance VTOL flights. This advancement aligns with national strategies and demonstrates clear commercial application potential across freight delivery to remote and challenging environments and emergency scenarios. Entrepreneurs can validate these technologies by engaging in ground and flight tests, assessing energy management performance, reliability, and cost-effectiveness. Moreover, maturation of domestic avionics systems underpins a more robust low-altitude aerospace ecosystem with enhanced sovereign control and scalability.