Otto Aerospace Phantom 3500 Clears Preliminary Design Review

Milestone advances the clean-sheet business jet program into detailed design, engineering release and production planning

FORT WORTH, Texas, May 13, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Otto Aerospace today announced the successful completion of the Preliminary Design Review (PDR) for its Phantom 3500, a major technical milestone that advances the clean-sheet business jet program from conceptual design into detailed design and production planning. The review was conducted during the last week of February at Otto Aerospace’s future home in Jacksonville, Fla.

PDR provided a comprehensive assessment of the Phantom 3500’s configuration, architecture, performance and overall design maturity across systems and structures. It also allowed Otto to freeze the aircraft’s aerodynamic design and major interfaces, giving engineering and supplier teams the definition needed to support the next phase of work.

“This is an important step for our team,” said Otto Aerospace President and CEO Scott Drennan. “Engineers often feel like PDR is a test, but I look at it as a celebration of their amazing work. And, yes, they passed the test with flying colors. The Phantom 3500 has crossed the threshold from a promising concept to an aircraft we are preparing to build and fly. You can see it in the digital model, in the hardware we have built and in the maturity of the program. The work now is execution. We are focused on building this aircraft on time, while proving that our laminar-flow aircraft can do exactly what we said it would do.”

Otto now advances the program into detailed design and engineering release, setting the stage for hardware fabrication and assembly as the company prepares for first flight of Flight Test Vehicle 1 in 2027. The flight-test program will support Otto’s broader effort to demonstrate the producibility and performance of its applied laminar-flow technology, which is engineered to radically reduce the energy required for flight and form the foundation for a new category of highly efficient and sustainable aviation.

“Completing PDR reflects more than a year of disciplined work by the Otto team, our suppliers and our development partners,” said Otto Aerospace Chief Technology Officer Kyle Heironimus. “Aircraft development depends on thousands of decisions made with speed, quality, safety and certification rigor in mind. I’m proud of how this team worked together to reach this milestone and put the Phantom 3500 in position for the next phase of execution.”

As the program moves from PDR toward Critical Design Review (CDR) and aircraft build, Otto will remain focused on the work required to turn the Phantom 3500 into a certified production aircraft, including disciplined weight management, supplier execution, certification planning and protection of the aircraft’s core performance targets.

“The aviation world has dreamed of practical laminar-flow flight for years,” Drennan said. “With PDR complete, we are one major step closer to delivering it.”

About Otto Aerospace
Otto Aerospace is an advanced aerospace company committed to transforming private and regional aviation through innovative aircraft design. With a mission to unlock the physics of laminar flow to radically reduce the energy required for flight, Otto unites engineering and industry expertise with powerful development partnerships. Headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, Otto is developing the Phantom 3500, a new, clean-sheet design aircraft that establishes and leads a new category in highly efficient, affordable, and sustainable aviation.

This Changes Everything. Learn more at ottoaerospace.com.

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