A little bit more information. One thing I noticed here was that it appears to fly "backwards" to what I was expecting - that is, the pilot is tilted back so they can't see where they're going.
BlackFly can travel for up to 25 miles (40km) at a speed of 62mph. Its makers say it will eventually cost the same as a typical sports-utility car, but early models will be more expensive.
BlackFly's creator is the Palo Alto-based firm Opener. The car has been tested in Canada, where the country’s aviation authority has authorised its use. Like Kitty Hawk, BlackFly could perhaps be more accurately described as a human-carrying drone. It is not designed to be driven on roads.
The vehicle carries one person in a small cockpit, powered by “eight propulsion systems, spread across two wings”. It works best, Opener says, when taking off and landing from grassy surfaces.
“Even though not required by Federal Aviation Administration regulations, BlackFly operators will be required to successfully complete the FAA Private Pilot written examination and also complete company-mandated vehicle familiarisation and operator training," it said.
Opener’s chief executive Marcus Leng said the on-board controls offered “instant gratification”. “You have total command of three-dimensional space,” he told CBS News correspondent John Blackstone. “When you press the thumb-stick to climb, you have absolute full control. When you stop in the middle of the air and go off the joystick, the aircraft freezes. And when I say freezes… it literally freezes in the air.” BlackFly can also fly autonomously, Mr Leng said.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-44805697
Err, not backwards, the pilot just demonstrated the possibility to also slowly fly backward all other stuff clearly shows (as do the propellers) a forward orientation, anything other would be asking for a disaster.
ReplyDeleteI find the rocking chair underside quite amusing :-)