Elroy Air, the company developing the first end-to-end autonomous vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aerial cargo system, has expanded its executive leadership.
Alex Blake, uncrewed aerospace executive from Wing (formerly Google X), Amazon Prime Air, and Kittyhawk joins Elroy Air as Chief of Staff, and eVTOL technical expert Zach Lovering joins as Vice President of Engineering.
“Alex’s many years of experience in moving new aerospace concepts from idea to proof-of-concept to operational reality brings an incredible set of strengths to our organization. We are extremely excited to have Alex join our leadership team,” said Co-Founder Clint Cope.
Most recently, Blake served as VP of Engineering at Kittyhawk where she was said to have played a central role in driving the development of a ground-breaking electric autonomous air taxi, backed by Google/Alphabet founder Larry Page.
Blake was a member of the team at Google X that developed drone delivery and UTM systems, eventually splitting off as Wing, a subsidiary of Alphabet with operations on 3 continents. At Wing, Alex led aerodynamics, propulsion, reliability, and flight test, aiding in the 1st FAA operational approval for a commercial drone service in the US. She also served as a launch lead for Amazon Prime Air’s next generation drone delivery system, quality manager for Google’s high altitude solar drone Titan, manufacturing engineer for Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser space flight vehicle, and materials development engineer at Raytheon.
“Elroy Air’s vision for the future of logistics is truly inspiring. Over the last decade, the drone industry has undergone a remarkable transformation, and we are witnessing the immense potential of this technology come to life,” said Blake. “I believe Elroy Air is at the forefront of a critical segment of the market. The Chaparral has broad applications for middle-mile logistics in the commercial space, defense resupply, and humanitarian aid. I’m honored to be part of the team delivering on this vision and look forward to what’s ahead.”
Blake is working with Elroy Air’s founders to shape how the company will mature and scale, including where to focus energy and resources as it builds its middle mile aerial delivery system’s products and services.
“We recently welcomed Zach Lovering as VP Engineering. Zach led the team at A³ by Airbus as they built and flew the Vahana eVTOL aircraft all the way through transition over more than 138 flights – a pioneering program in our industry which is highly-relevant experience for the trajectory ahead for Elroy Air,” added co-founder and CEO David Merrill.
As Vice President for Urban Mobility Systems at Airbus, Zach oversaw Urban Mobility operations in the US and was responsible for the end-to-end system integration of next generation aircraft into our airspace and cities. He led the company’s flagship eVTOL demonstrator program, Vahana, originally as its founding Chief Engineer then as Project Executive at Airbus’s Silicon Valley innovation center, A³ by Airbus. Zach also led rotor blade programs at Helicopter Technology Company, and worked on the structures, propulsion, and aero-performance teams at Zee.Aero (now Wisk).
“Even before joining Elroy Air, I was impressed by their approach to tackling logistics challenges,” said Lovering. “By combining the benefits of high-power batteries with energy-efficient turbogenerators, Elroy Air is uniquely able to address real-world applications that balance range, speed, and payload capability for a wide variety of global customers. I am excited to merge my decade-long experience in eVTOL system design with that of the highly capable Elroy Air team to accelerate development and productization.”
In his role, Lovering is focused on growing the Engineering function at Elroy Air with a focus on its Powertrain, Autonomy, Integration, and Flight Testing teams.
The expansion of these critical groups is expected to accelerate the company on its path to producing early vehicles and showcasing the Chaparral’s value proposition to customers.
