Overview

• Alef Aeronautics signed agreements with Half Moon Bay and Hollister airports to conduct drive, vertical takeoff, short forward flight, and landing tests alongside other aircraft.
• Testing starts with the Model Zero ultralight before progressing to prototype and commercial Model A evaluations, with early flight profiles capped at a 50‑foot hover and less than 200 feet of forward travel.
• Operations will run at non‑towered sites with crewed aircraft given priority, no entry onto taxiways or runways, and visual observers monitoring common traffic advisory frequencies.
• Safety measures include a remote pilot in command with a kill switch, telemetry monitoring, AI‑based obstacle recognition, and backup systems such as a glider mode, with a whole‑aircraft parachute under consideration.
• Alef cites more than 3,300 preorders and a roughly $300,000 price target, is building pre‑production units, and aims for initial production in late 2025 or early 2026 while operating under ultralight daytime and population‑area limits and exploring potential MOSAIC pathways.