Posts by Dave Clarke
Kitty Hawk VTOL Has Flown 25,000 Times
Flyer, the one-person VTOL being developed by Kitty Hawk, the flying car company founded by former Google executive Sebastian Thrun, has now flown more than 25,000 times. The company hopes to market the one-passenger/pilot Flyer alongside CORA, its two-person/piloted air taxi, which is being developed with Boeing. Flyer is intended for recreational use. Kitty Hawk…
NEC’s Flying Car Completes Successful Test Flight in Japan
“You may think of ‘Back to the Future,’” Fumiaki Ebihara, an official with the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, told CBS News in 2018. “Up to now, it was just a dream, but with innovations in motors and batteries, it’s time for it to become real.” Let the records show that in early…
US Air Force Considers Flying Cars for Rescue Missions
The US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) recently released a solicitation for proposals and bids to develop an autonomous aircraft (drone) to be used to rescue military personnel. The concept, based on flying car technologies being developed worldwide, is for a vehicle that would be air-dropped from a C-130 aircraft, slowed down with the use…
Uber Unveils Skyport Designs for Flying Cars
With plans to launch its Uber Air air taxi services by 2023, Uber revealed the finalists in its competition to design Skyport Mobility Hubs. Uber’s eVTOLs will use these hubs to take off and land. Eight architectural firms based in Los Angeles, Dallas, and Melbourne, Australia (all places where the first Uber Air services will…
Uber Announces Advances with Air Taxis
As it works to make air taxis a reality (much!) sooner than most people expect, Uber announced advances in its Uber Elevate program at the Elevate Summit in Washington, D.C. Testing and Takeoff in 2020 and 2023 Uber Elevate has selected real estate developer Related Companies to design skyports for its air taxi offering. Related’s…
Volocopter Expands Its Vision for Flying Cars
As the world’s flying car manufacturers prepare to launch their vehicles, they seem to be reaching the conclusion that the infrastructure needed to support a world of flying cars is nowhere near ready. This, despite the fact that their eVTOLs may be ready for takeoff within two to five years. Many issues about reliability and…