Texas-based Otto Aerospace has completed the initial design review for its Phantom 3500 aircraft, moving the program into production planning and flight testing.
Texas-based Otto Aerospace has completed the initial design review for its Phantom 3500 aircraft, moving the program into production planning and flight testing.
The review took place in late February at the company’s headquarters in Jacksonville, Florida.
Assessments focused on the platform’s configuration, systems, structures, and performance, while allowing the company to prepare the Phantom 3500’s aerodynamic design and key interfaces ahead of the next development phase.
Otto said the program will now transition into detailed engineering in preparation for the jet’s maiden flight in 2027.
“This is an important step for our team,” Otto Aerospace President and CEO Scott Drennan stated.
“The Phantom 3500 has crossed the threshold from a promising concept to an aircraft we are preparing to build and fly. The work now is execution.”
The Phantom 3500
Otto aims to use the Phantom 3500 to validate its applied laminar-flow technology, which is designed to reduce aircraft drag and optimize energy consumption.
That capability is expected to support future military applications and reshape business aviation that prioritizes long range and reduced fuel burn.
The aircraft first drew public attention in 2017 due to its unconventional bullet shape and efficiency claims.
Its architecture builds on work from Otto’s earlier Celera aircraft concepts, combining the Celera 800’s airframe and the Celera 500L’s piston engine, according to The War Zone.
The platform has a cabin volume of 800 cubic feet (23 cubic meters) and a cabin height of 7 feet (2 meters), and is fitted with twin Williams FJ44 turbofans for a range of 3,500 nautical miles (4,028 miles/6,482 kilometers) and a service ceiling of 51,000 feet (15,545 meters).
