The latest generation of flying car developed by KleinVision company transforms from road vehicle into air vehicle in less than 3-minutes. Useful for leisure and self-driving journeys, and also as a commercial taxi service.
We're making baby steps here. I have to say that I don't really imagine too many of these things just driving around on the streets but hey check out the video below, because it sure looks cool.
If you happen to be in China during a high-rise fire, you might see an aerial assist to the fire fighters on the ground. The latest variant of the EHang 216 is able to carry up to 150 liters of foam and six extinguisher bombs per trip to high-rise fires within a 5 km radius of the station where they're based.
Once this goes into practical use, it really shows how far technology has come over the past few years for Drones and eVTOLS. We have been obsessed with flying cars for some time, but these would be flown autonomously. Check out the video below to see it in action.
Beta Technologies in Vermont are testing the Electric, Vertical Take Off aircraft Alia, which draws design inspiration from the Arctic tern. Leading the Electric
Flight Revolution Electric flight is here today. The next exciting, inevitable milestone will be its commercialization. We’re at the forefront of making that happen with a team of relentlessly focused, hands-on engineers who are testing, reworking and retesting what will be the world’s most versatile electric aircraft.
Our electric vertical take off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft promises an unprecedented forward leap in energy efficiency and cost savings. But these benefits are just the beginning. Taking a whole systems approach, we will be able to support a variety of missions from virtually anywhere, all in a design that’s just simple enough to be revolutionary.
It's been a long rough road, a global pandemic, world unrest, protests and riots, and a launch of manned mission back to space for the first time since 2011. It seems like every day we inch a little closer to that global dystopia and cyberpunk world of tech.
So, to kick off your June, here's some interesting concept work by Brazilian Aerospace conglomerate Embraer celebrating 50 years.
The Pulse Concept system transfers its futuristic, transparent pod from the aircraft to the autonomous vehicle, so passengers never leave the safety of the pod.
They initially launched a prototype in 2018 of urban mobility vehicle with Uber to bring air taxis to select cities in 2023. Check out the video below for an eye opening look at our future.
“The fuselage is particularly interesting,” emphasized Jay Beever, vice president of interior design for Embraer Executive Jets. “The pod structure is made of transparent aluminum, otherwise known as Alon. Though this material is classified and currently being considered for use by NASA and other governmental anti-ballistic projects, I think it would make a fantastic fuselage material.”
We've been busy working on Volume 2 of Prisoner of the mind so check back for some new updates coming.
If you are obsessed with flying cars like we are, this is interesting news. Leading flying car developer SkyDrive, established by the members of CARTIVATOR, a group of aircraft, drones, and automotive engineers, has secured 14 Million USD through Third-party share issuance funding and subsidies. A total of 18.5 Million USD has now been raised and manned test flights will begin this year. Apparently Toyota is involved with this too. Check out the videos below.
Flying taxi's seem to be the motivation for us to take to the air and Uber might just do it with this new Bell NEXUS aircraft. There are so many vehicle concepts already for this type of service, and Bell has just dropped another one at CES in Las Vegas. The newly unveiled Nexus is a look at future transportation that we have been following for some time. This aircraft is an all electric, tilting six-rotor design to take off vertically and propel itself through the air carrying up to 4 passengers. Bell has it's sights on having this Air Taxi in flight over several major cities sometime in 2020. Check out the video below to see the model at CES.
Promoted as "THE WORLD'S FIRST ALL ELECTRIC, PERSONAL FLYING MACHINE." The Hexa sure looks interesting and very different from other Personal Flying Machines. This comes to us from a company called Lift Aircraft out of Austin Texas
DISTRIBUTED ELECTRIC PROPULSION Eighteen independent electric motors and propellers are the only moving parts needed for perfectly stable, controlled flight. AMPHIBIOUS Four perimeter floats provide stability while a large central float provides buoyancy for safe water landings. SIMPLE TO FLY
A triply redundant autopilot computer with a single, 3-axis joystick is all that is needed to fly. Or tap on the seven inch touchscreen in "Look mom, no hands!" mode. Check out the video below to see for yourself.
It looks like things are moving along in the flying taxi business. Check out the video below. Vertical Aerospace is building technology to revolutionize how people fly, with the ultimate aim of making intercity air travel personal, on-demand and carbon free. The Bristol-based startup has built and flown the UK's first full scale fully electric vertical take off and landing aircraft. Its unmanned technology demonstrator aircraft weighs 750kg and flew across Cotswold Airport in Kemble, Gloucestershire in June 2018 as part of the company’s flight test program.
If you have been following my journey on this site, i am a little bit obsessed with flying cars and overall I try to touch base on all subjects I can find related to our inevitable sci-fi(cyberpunk) future coming true as it relates to the neo-noir graphic novel I've been working on. So far, we're moving a long, not little by little, but noticeably advancing new technologies all the time. The latest from UberAir is their search for a host city to market test their flying taxis. From their site:
To bring uberAIR to market, we plan to partner with three ‘launch cities’. This will allow for a balance between focus and city diversity that will set the service up for long-term success.
Dallas and Los Angeles were previously announced as the first two launch cities, and we are now seeking an international city as the third partner. These three cities will be the first to offer uberAIR flights, with the goals of operating demonstrator flights starting in 2020 and beginning commercial operations in 2023.
Considerations for a Good Launch City
To help understand what would make for a good urban air mobility pilot, we have provided the following considerations:
Cities with a greater metropolitan area population in excess of 2 million people and a density of over 2,000 people per square mile will be able to support pooled ridesharing services and thus benefit the most from an uberAIR network.
Ideal cities are polycentric, with multiple dense nodes of development in an urban area, and face significant traffic congestion. A large and dispersed city layout means that uberAIR will be able to offer significant time saving benefits at speeds of 150-200 miles per hour.
Two more flying cars are coming. As I have said before, we are entering a new era for the flying car/personal transportation type vehicles. VTOL (vertical take off and landing) if you will. Maybe we've finally reached the level of technology to make these things realistic. We covered the Kitty Hawk which looks more like a pontoon boat with propellers. And then there is the Black Fly, which I really like. I'm not sure what it is about this one that attracts me to it, but it looks fun to fly/drive.
So, here are the latest companies to join the fray of flying personal vehicles.
Of course Aston Martin is going to make an awesome looking vehicle. The Volante Vision is meant to be a private Air Taxi, I imagine it like a personal jet for wealthy business types. This is an area of tight competition right now with multiple companies attempting to do the same thing. Maybe that is just what we need to jump start this flying car thing. The Volante Vision looks more like a futuristic flying car than most of them, but for now it's just a concept vehicle like most. Before you know it Porsche and Ferrari will jump right in, after all Rolls Royce had a hand in this Aston Martin Vehicle idea.
Then there is the CityHawk, not to be confused with Bell Helicopters X-Hawk. The CityHawk flying car is almost a direct descendant of the Cormorant AirMule which is an autonomous UAV designed by an Israeli firm Tactical Robots. This vehicle has been under development for a few years now and has over 200 flights to date. The CityHawk is designed by Urban Aeronautics, also an Israeli firm that uses a similar airframe, so this one has much more of a chance of becoming real than the Aston Martin. Below is the video of test flights of the AirMule.
The CityHawk is going into full scale development according to Urban Aeronautics. The aim here is to make it some type of taxi for consumers. This one reminds me of an of a 1980's Cessna Airplane because of its chunky (non-sexy) airframe. Definitely a different take then Aston Martin. See below.
It seems that I forgot about the Lilium. Below is a still from their first test flight they did last year. Check out the video below.
The Lilium Jet successfully completed its maiden test flight series in the skies above Bavaria. The 2-seater Eagle prototype executed a range of complex maneuvers, including its signature mid-air transition from hover mode to wing-borne forward flight.
If flying cars aren't your thing, and you would rather have a little more freedom, then why not by your very own Jet Suit designed by Gravity. This suit is very cool, we have covered this and many other Jet Packs and personal transportation devices before. This one will set you back almost half a million bucks.
This thing is sound good until you run into a brick wall, but in that case you might need this.
Anyway, you've probably already seen this, but in case you've been living under a rock, check out the video below.
Well this looks interesting. I think we are in a new age of flying machines. It seems like every week we have new personal flying transportation options from different companies. Flying cars, jet packs and more... This is truly an exciting era to be part of. The latest flying machine is called The Black Fly. This thing seems pretty stable compared to the other ones so we are getting closer, but its landings are a bit funky. Here's some more info on it and then check out this thing in the video below.
We spend too much time confined to a two-dimensional network of concrete and asphalt. The dream of futurists has always been a flying vehicle capable of efficiently moving passengers from A to B.
Opener is realizing this dream in an affordable, safe, easy-to-operate, vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) vehicle: BlackFly.
Opener's BlackFly heralds a new era of aviation. Time and money spent traveling and maintaining infrastructure will be reduced. People will go places they never thought possible.
Larry Page's Kitty Hawk startup has been working on several different personal flight projects, including a self-piloting, electric VTOL air taxi that can be used for Uber Elevate-style aerial commuting. The Silicon Valley company has also been working on something a little more fun. A solo flying multi-copter called the Flyer. Recently, the team released images and partial specs on what looks to be the final production design. Check out the video at the bottom.
Flight time is somewhere around 12 to 20 minutes, depending on pilot weight and the speed you're flying at. In terms of safety, Kitty Hawk has currently decided to limit altitude to between 3 to 10 ft (0.9 to 3 m), and maximum speed to 20 mph (32 km/h).
The company says you can learn to fly it in "less than an hour," and fly it without a pilot's license as an ultralight aircraft, meaning you'll need to keep it away from populated areas.
It makes you want to jump in and go! It also looks a little less dangerous than the jet packs or the flying boards.
