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(XTI, Denver, CO, US) announced Feb. 20 it is on schedule and on budget as it completes the ducts and fans for its 60% scale flying prototype and moves toward ground testing those components.

“In this Phase 2,” explains Robert LaBelle, CEO of XTI, “we’re fabricating the wing ducts and fans and will perform ground tests for static thrust performance and verification on those components. We’ll also complete weight and balance, and full structural design. Fabrication of the entire aircraft will be completed in Phase 3, which will begin in April, followed by two or three months of testing before first flight later this year.”

The TriFan is a major breakthrough in aviation and air travel. The six-seat TriFan 600 will have the speed, range and comfort of a luxury business aircraft and the ability to take off and land vertically, like a helicopter. It will travel at over 300 miles an hour, with a range of 1,200 miles. Using three ducted fans, the TriFan lifts off vertically. Its two wing fans then rotate forward for a seamless transition to cruise speed and its initial climb. It will reach 30,000 feet in just ten minutes and cruise to the destination as a highly efficient business aircraft.

Following XTI’s exhibits at the Paris Air Show in June, the annual National Business Aviation Association’s convention in Las Vegas in October, and its exhibit at the Ft. Lauderdale International Boat Show in November, XTI announced over 60 orders for the TriFan 600 under the company’s pre-sales program.