The next leap in vertical lift: 10× cheaper

Philadelphia Helicopter is reducing the cost of owning and operating a vertical takeoff aircraft by an order of magnitude.

Watch us fly

The Piasecki tandem rotor configuration was the last paradigm shift in heavy lift. The prop-driven rotor configuration is the next.

Stella 2 on the tarmac at sunset, with the team standing beside it — Stella 2 Flight Demonstrator

Stella 3

Stella 3 is our next aircraft for autonomous heavy-lift work. We’re targeting 1,000–1,200 lb of net mission payload, 3–6 hours of flight time, and first deliveries in 2027.

Net mission payload target: 1,000–1,200 lbMission configuration dependent
Endurance target: 3–6 hoursPayload and flight profile dependent
Target aircraft price: $250,000Final configuration to be defined
Expected first deliveries: 2027Subject to development and applicable approvals

Autonomous navigation and landing

Planned onboard navigation and landing capability, with remote operator supervision. Shipping in 2028.

Remote operation beyond the launch site

Stella is designed to be piloted beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS), which allows us to operate Stella for our customers and eliminates pilot logistics from the product.

Conforming to FAA Part 108

The FAA’s forthcoming Part 108 rule is expected to permit routine BVLOS drone flights without case-by-case waivers. Stella is being designed to meet it.

Modular payload

Stella customers may use one of multiple payload containment options, including a slung load, or design their own.

Serious payload at a fraction of the cost

Stella 3 combines a 1,000–1,200 lb payload target with an aircraft price target of $250,000. A lower purchase price is another part of our plan to make heavy lift affordable to own and operate.

Aircraft purchase-price and payload planning estimates
Aircraft and price basis	Price estimate	Payload estimate
Stella 3 New	$250,000	1,000–1,200 lb target
Bell 206L-4 Used	$889,000–$1.8M	≈890 lb
Airbus H125 New	$3.5M–$4.5M	≈1,240 lb
Bell 407GXi New, standard gross weight	$4M–$5.5M	≈1,240 lb

Comparison notes

Helicopter payload estimates represent cabin payload after standard fuel and a 200 lb pilot. Used prices are asking-price estimates; new prices are budgeting estimates. This table compares aircraft price and payload capacity, not total ownership cost or equivalent external-load performance.

Watch Stella 2 fly.

Our Stella 2 team was among a handful still flying on the final day of the DARPA Lift Challenge. DARPA Lift Challenge competition flights demonstrated a 2:1 payload-to-aircraft-weight ratio in flight, with ground testing supporting 4:1 lift capability.

Stella 2 footage from the DARPA Lift Challenge. Hover and landing sequence. No narration.

2:1: Payload-to-aircraft-weight ratio in flight testing
4:1: Lift capability supported by ground testing
4: Flights at the DARPA Lift Challenge

About the DARPA Lift Challenge

Flight-test execution and decades of rotorcraft experience.

Our founding team combines hands-on aircraft development with experience bringing advanced vertical-flight concepts to ground testing and flight.

Fred Cunningham

Co-founder and President

Fred led our DARPA Lift Challenge team and the effort to fly Stella 2. His background includes Columbia University and BAE Systems. He leads the company’s work to turn that flight-test experience into Stella 3.

Fred Piasecki

Co-founder, Board Member and Strategic Advisor

Fred is Chairman and Chief Technology Officer of Piasecki Aircraft. An experienced rotorcraft designer, he has led aircraft programs through ground and flight testing. He brings technical judgment and aircraft-development experience to Stella 3’s design and commercialization strategy.

Photo: VFS, Gary Vincent

Heavy lift for work that cannot wait.

We’re seeking operators and mission partners to help validate Stella 3 where payload, access, and operating cost have immediate consequences.

Agricultural spraying

Carry substantial treatment loads through repeated passes over fields and managed forests. Stella 3’s design targets aim to reduce refill interruptions and lower the cost per treated acre.

Discuss agricultural operations

Military logistics

Move supplies to dispersed positions when ground access is difficult or conventional aviation is unavailable. Stella 3 is being developed for uncrewed heavy-lift missions that could expand resupply options without an onboard flight crew.

Defense demand is taking shape. Military organizations are funding autonomous aerial resupply through efforts including Marine Corps MARV-EL and Army cargo-aircraft development. These programs point to demand for aircraft that can move supplies without an onboard crew.

Discuss logistics requirements

Remote utility placement

Move poles, transformers, and line hardware into terrain that trucks cannot reach, for loads within the validated aircraft envelope.

Discuss utility loads

Mosquito and vector control

Support repeat treatment routes over wetlands and other hard-to-access areas. Planned automation could help operators run scheduled missions, including nighttime operations where authorized and validated.

Discuss vector control

Urban firefighting

Explore delivery of water or retardant to upper floors and rooftops without an onboard crew. We’re interested in working with response agencies to evaluate this demanding mission.

Discuss response applications

What would you move if aerial lift cost less?

Some jobs stall because the load is beyond practical ground access and too expensive to fly. We are building Stella 3 to change that calculation. Lower-cost vertical lift could make routine construction deliveries, remote repairs, and disaster response resupply viable at a smaller scale.

Construction materials and tools delivered to difficult-access sites.
Pumps, generators, and repair equipment moved across damaged roads or rough terrain.
Relief supplies delivered to isolated communities.
Repeated movement of smaller loads where a dedicated helicopter mobilization is difficult to justify.

Tell us what you need to move, where it needs to go, and what the job costs today.

Team members preparing Stella 2 in a field, with one long yellow rotor blade in the foreground — The team preparing Stella 2 in the field.

Stella 2 Team

Seven team members with the aircraft on a weighing platform in a hangar — The Philadelphia Helicopter Corporation team in the hangar.

Help put affordable heavy lift to work.

Bring us a mission, or help us build the company that can serve it.

Plan a Stella 3 mission

Share your payload, location, and operating needs. We’ll use them to assess mission fit and discuss evaluation or future purchase interest.

Explore the investment opportunity

Discuss the technology, economics, development milestones, and commercial opportunity with the founding team.

Prefer to contact us directly? Email contact@philahelico.com or call +1 917 414 6024.