Sprocket hosting event to welcome developing electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft to Paducah

Web and social media editor

PADUCAH — A company working on electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft is planning to develop its flagship commercial aircraft in Paducah, and local nonprofit innovation lab Sprocket is hosting a welcome event for the company — HopFlyt.

Sprocket says the welcome event — which will be held at 2 p.m. on Tuesday — will include leaders from the McCracken County Fiscal Court, the city of Paducah and the Barkley Regional Airport Authority. Both local governments and the airport authority will work with HopFlyt to provide hangar and office space, Sprocket says, as well as funding and renovations for HopFlyt as staffing ramps up for designing, engineering and manufacturing the aircraft.

In a news release about the welcome event, Sprocket says HopFlyt's vision in developing its flagship eVTOL aircraft, which will be called the Venturi, is to allow people and goods to move farther, faster and safer.

"Local and state incentives, high quality of life, and cost-of-living considerations — along with the proximity and accessibility of the University of Kentucky's School of Engineering and faculty — combined to make Paducah an ideal environment for HopFlyt's growth," the news release says.

Sprocket says the company is currently seeking industry alliances and investments to help support research and design as it builds a full-scale model of the aircraft for testing and certification.

For more information about HopFlyt, visit hopflyt.com. To learn more about Sprocket, visit sprocketpaducah.com.

Web and social media editor

Currently in Paducah