New passenger drone is ‘like flight simulator you can ride in,’ CEO says
IF MATT Chasen gets his way, there will be a time - in the not-so-distant future - when commuters are able to order an air taxi that whisks them across town in minutes, bypassing trafficclogged streets below.
For now, however, the chief executive of LIFT Aircraft will have to use his start-up’s electricpowered vertical-takeoff-andlanding aircraft, the Hexa, for something else: 15-minute flights across a lake outside Austin, Texas, for US$249 (RM1,046) a pop.
Though the flights will target a recreational crowd, Chasen sees them as a steppingstone to a new form of convenient urban transportation.
“Today’s regulatory environment does not allow for a transportation use of these aircraft - yet,” said Chasen, a former Boeing engineer with a background in mechanical and aerospace engineering. “We’ll build public trust in the technology. Once that happens, it’s inevitable that people will want to use it for certain types of commuting flights.”
It may take years, Chasen said, but the pay-off could be immense, as the race to create autonomous flying vehicles begins, with companies such as Uber, Airbus and Volocopter already developing them.
Unlike with conventional aircraft, the Federal Aviation Administration does not require a pilot’s licence to operate a “powered ultralight” craft. The agency’s rules require instead that ultralights operate during daylight hours in open areas and limit their use to sport and recreation.
To operate the Hexa, Chasen said, customers will undergo an orientation that includes watching safety videos and training in a virtual-reality simulator for up to an hour. A basic proficiency test will follow, then preflight checks with ground support.
The drone-like aircraft - which is controlled using a joystick in the cockpit and stabilised by a flight computer - weighs 432 pounds, seats one person, and has 18 sets of propellers, motors and batteries. Prospective pilots have to weigh less than 250 pounds. During flight, Chasen said, pilots can see safety information on an augmented-reality display inside the aircraft. In emergencies, flight controllers can take over the aircraft and fly it remotely like a drone. Chasen compared the flying experience to “a flight simulator that you can ride in.”— Washington Post.