Dream Aerospace Technology DF600 Jinghong (prototype)

DF600 long-range heavy-lift air cargo hybrid-electric VTOL prototype aircraft

(Photo credit: DreamFly Aerotech)

DF600 Jinghong (prototype)
DreamFly Aerotech
Suzhou, Jiangsu, China
website unknown

The information provided here is as accurate as possible; however, eVTOL information from China is sometimes sparse, incomplete or conflicting. China is promoting what they call the "low-altitude economy" — a new push for general aviation — which includes both crewed and uncrewed passenger and air cargo eVTOL aircraft.

DreamFly Aerotech is in the business of designing and manufacturing long-range heavy-lift air cargo electric and hybrid-electric vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft. The company is located in Suzhou, Jiangsu, China. It has been reported the company was founded in 2022 and has raised over $30 million USD since founded.

Online articles have referred to the company's name as being Dream Aerospace Technology, Dreamfly, Dreamfly Aerotech, Dream Chasing Sky and Dream Chasing Sky Technology. We are using the name DreamFly Aerotech because that is the name on the company's LinkedIn account.

DF600 Jinghong long-range heavy-lift air cargo hybrid-electric VTOL aircraft (prototype)
The DF600 Jinghong is a long-range heavy-lift air cargo hybrid-electric VTOL aircraft. The aircraft is flown by either remote piloting, autopilot, autonomous piloting or a combination of the three. The flight and payload weight specifications might be for the full-scale production model.

The company has not revealed many of the specifications of the aircraft such as the cruise speed, flight time or cruising altitude. However, the range of the aircraft using only battery packs is expected to be 150-200 km (62-124 m). The company anticipates batteries to have a higher energy density in the future and the range of the all battery power source by 2030 is foreseen to be 400 km (249 miles). The range of the aircraft with a hybrid-electric power source is 1,000 km (621 m).

The aircraft has two tilt-propellers for forward and VTOL flight and are located at the ends of the high main wing. There are four VTOL-only propellers located on booms attached under the main wing and are parallel to fuselage. The aircraft has six electric motors. The aircraft can be powered by all batteries or use a hybrid-electric power source. The fuselage is made from carbon fiber composite to give the aircraft a high strength to low weight ratio. The aircraft has fixed skid landing gear.

On January 9, 2025, the company announced they successfully completed the first test flight of a ton-class tilt-propeller liquid hydrogen powered VTOL aircraft. Dream Aerospace Technology expects serial production of the aircraft to begin in 2025.

Specifications:

Aircraft type: Long-range heavy-lift air cargo hybrid-electric or electric VTOL prototype aircraft
Piloting: Remote, autopilot, autonomous or a combination of the three
Capacity: Air cargo
Cruise speed: Unknown
Range (electric): 150-200 km (62-124 m)
Range (hybrid-electric): 1,000 km (621 m)
Maximum payload weight: 1,000 kg (2,205 lb)
Propellers: 6 propellers (2 tilt-propellers, 4 VTOL-only propellers)
Electric motors: 6 electric motors
Power source: Hybrid-electric power source
Fuselage: Carbon fiber composite
Wings: 1 main high wing
Tail: 1 V-tail with a downward vertical stabilizer
Landing gear: Fixed skid landing gear
Safety features: Distributed Electric Propulsion (DEP) uses multiple propellers or electric ducted fans, each powered by electric motors, to increase safety through redundancy. If one or more components fail, the remaining ones can still ensure a safe landing. There are also redundancies of critical components in the sub-systems of the aircraft providing safety through redundancy. Having multiple redundant systems on any aircraft decreases having any single point of failure.