欧洲创业公司Lilium垂直起降电动飞机完成首次试飞

The prototype two-seater Lilium Jet, a compact and lightweight electric plane capable of vertical take off and landing, completed an unmanned test earlier this month.

双座Lilium Jet的原型是一架紧凑又轻便的、能够垂直起降的电动飞机，它于本月初完成了无人驾驶测试。

"Seeing the Lilium Jet take to the sky and performing sophisticated maneuvers with apparent ease is testament to the skill and perseverance of our amazing team," co-founder and chief exec Daniel Wiegand says in a release.

联合创始人兼首席执行官丹尼尔·韦根在一份声明中表示：“看到Lilium Jet飞机能够轻松的飞入高空并进行复杂的飞行，证明了我们这个优秀的团队的技术和恒心。”

"We have solved some of the toughest engineering challenges in aviation to get to this point."

“我们已经解决了航空中一些最棘手的工程挑战。”

The egg-shaped aircraft, which can be powered from a wall socket and could even take off from the garden, can ascend and descend vertically, like a helicopter.

这架蛋形飞机可以通过壁式插座充电，甚至也能从花园里起飞，它可以像直升机那样垂直升降。

Its 36 jet engines then tilt on moveable flaps from vertical to horizontal to provide forward thrust, with wings providing lift as in a normal airplane.

起飞后，它的36架喷气引擎会将其可动翼片从垂直方向倾斜到水平位置，以提供向前的推力，其中机翼与正常飞机的相同。

The Lilium Jet, which creates no harmful emissions and is quieter than conventional aircraft, is estimated to have a range of about 300 kilometers and a maximum cruising speed of 300 kilometers per hour.

这种Lilium Jet不会产生有害排放物，比传统飞机更安静，飞行距离大概约为300公里，最大巡航速度为300公里/小时。

For maximum safety, each of the engines is individually shielded, so failure in one can't affect the others.

为了最大程度的安全起见，每台发动机都是单独防护的，所以一台发动机的故障不会影响到其他发动机。

Sophisticated sensors prevent the pilot from performing maneuvers beyond the jet's predetermined safe flight parameters.

先进的传感器还可以防止飞行员执行超出飞机预定安全飞行参数的操作。

The company, which was started by four Munich university graduates in 2015, says the aircraft is designed to be flown in good weather conditions in uncongested airspace in the daylight.

2015年，四名慕尼黑大学的毕业生创立了此公司。他们表示，该飞机的设计是在晴好的天气条件下，于白天在不拥挤的空域内飞行。

"In the longer term, our target is to build an aircraft that not only the super-rich can afford, and that can make private air transportation possible for a much wider number of people," says Weigand.

韦根表示：“从长远来看，我们的目标是打造一架不只是超级富豪才能负担得起的飞机，并可以让更多的人进行私人飞行成为可能。”