Light Aircraft – EV Trend

Nikkei »

On a nearly empty racetrack in the foothills of Mt. Fuji, a Tokyo-based drone startup unveiled its vision for the future of transport: a flying motorcycle able to hit speeds of up to 100kph.

In a scene straight out of a sci-fi film, the driver fired up the Xturismo, which rose several meters off the ground and cruised along the track for about a minute and a half. Reporters and guests — all wearing earplugs against the deafening noise — looked on.

Developed by A.L.I. Technologies, the “hoverbike,” as the company describes it, weighs 300 kg and is capable of carrying a single rider. According to the company, it can travel at its top speed for up to 40 minutes.

Video below.

The Jetson ONE is an ultralight recreational all-electric personal vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft.

Loz Blain, New Atlas »

Sweden’s Jetson Aero has already sold out the 2022 production run of this cute little single-seat kit build, which is capable of zooming along at 63 mph (102 km/h).

The Jetson One is a simple design purely dedicated to muckin’ about and having fun. Its single seat is suspended in an aluminum/carbon fiber spaceframe. It’s a straight-up drone-style multicopter, with eight props mounted coaxially on four arms, putting out a total peak of 88 kW (118 horsepower). Jetson says it’ll fly safely if one motor dies, but frankly I’d be more interested in landing safely at that point.

The pilot flies it with a throttle lever on the left, a joystick on the right, and a pair of pedals, presumably controlling yaw. There’s some very basic system information displayed on a little dash that frankly looks like a smartphone in a cradle.

Video below.

Tag: Light Aircraft

Japanese flying motorcycles to hit the skies next year

Sweden’s Jetson Aero has unveiled the Jetson ONE personal eVTOL