Aerospace

Video: Watch a Flying Car Built to be an Air Taxi in the UK Take its First Flight

12 September 2018

What used to seem like science fiction is quickly becoming closer to reality as the flying car market is exploding, with Aston Martin most recently joining the market. But this is just one of the numerous companies looking to capture the emerging aerospace segment with Rolls-Royce introducing its own concept vehicle, a single seat personal vehicle from startup Opener, a different single person flying taxi from Kitty Hawk, AeroMobil’s planned fleet of flying cars and China’s EHANG, which recently test flew its own vehicle in Lianyungang.

And this doesn’t even include Uber’s plan for its own flying taxi fleet and Intel, JetBlue and Toyota’s investment in Joby Aviation for another air taxi fleet.

Now, another company has entered the fray. Bristol, England startup Vertical Aerospace is building a full-scale, fully electric vertical take off and landing (VTOL) aircraft that will be used for intercity air travel in the form of an air taxi across the U.K.

The vehicle weighs about one and a half tons and because it is all-electric will be a new way to travel from city to city in an on-demand and carbon-free way, Vertical Aerospace said.

In the video, Vertical Aerospace’s VTOL flying car takes off from an airport in England vertically and then travels around the airport showing off what it can do. While this is the first flight for Vertical Aerospace, the company’s bold ambition is to be the first air taxi service in England, which means other tests are probably in the works.

To contact the author of this article, email PBrown@globalspec.com


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