‘Jetsons’-style ‘air taxi’ could be flying NYers around in two years: firm

A “Jetsons”-style “air taxi” may be transporting New Yorkers before the end of the decade, its manufacturer says.

The UK-based tech company Vertical Aerospace touted its futuristic Valo aircraft, a four-seat electric vehicle designed to fly up to 100 miles at 150 mph, at an industry preview in Manhattan last week — calling the contraption a first because of its zero-emissions power source.

“If you think of mass transport … the infrastructure just doesn’t work anymore,” company CEO Stuart Simpson told The Post in unveiling the craft, which has a pilot and is roughly the same size as a chopper and as fast.

He said his firm — which dubbed the vehicle an “air taxi” akin to something out of the 1960s cartoon “The Jetsons” — is aiming for the e-aircraft to be certified to fly short trips such as from JFK Airport to downtown Manhattan by the Federal Aviation Administration and UK regulators by 2028.

“This low-altitude economy frees up billions of hours for people where you can be with your friends and family, rather than sat in a car, squashed up on a train trying to get home,” Simpson said.

The air taxi’s back-and-forth destinations — routes to be devised by tourism companies and other businesses purchasing the aircraft — are set to use green energy to cut multi-hour journeys to airports, stadiums and weekend-travel destinations to minutes, Simpson said.

For example, the hourlong train ride from JFK to downtown Manhattan is expected to be cut down to just 7 minutes while being emissions-free.

A “hybrid” version of the flying e-vehicle can sit up to six passengers and jet across up to 1,000 miles.

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https://epicflightacademy.com/cost-of-a-cessna-172/

Licensed private pilot
MSFS 2024
Intel Ultra 9, RTX 5080

Wow! I am really impressed especially with your computer's specifications. I have been a private pilot, aircraft owner, and have lived on an airport for over 30 years. I have owned and used pretty much every Microsoft Flight Simulator including subLOGIC’s FS1 Flight Simulator, released in 1979 for the Apple II. Created by Bruce Artwick. And of course, I have enjoyed using many other flight simulators as well over the years.

One time I flew a couple of my friends up to the Glasair facility shortly after they released the Glastar so that the one guy who like you claimed to be a private pilot could take it for a test flight. On the way up to the facility his unrelenting ignorant conversation made an impression on myself and my other passenger.

After he got out of the plane and introduced himself to the Glasair pilot/salesperson my other friend asked me if we should warn the guy that he was most likely not a private pilot. I responded that no this would not be necessary. I did talk to the Glasair pilot afterwards and ended up apologizing to him for letting my friend waste his time. He was very gracious and said no, that 90% of the people who claimed to be private pilots to him hadn't even soloed let alone gotten their ticket. He said that he was hopeful that since our friend had arrived in an airplane that this was not going to be the case this time, but realized within a minute or two that it was the same old routine.

Regardless of whether it could ever make it into production it is an innovative product. The problem in this country is that between the FAA and lawyers innovative products that fly have no chance of being successful in our market.

I have had a homemade ultralight aircraft for many years which was designed by an aeronautical engineer in 1982. It has no known fatalities and meets the ultralight specifications better than most. The basic requirements are that the craft weighs under 254 pounds, max speed at full throttle of under 55 knots, and a stall speed of under 24 knots.

The Jetson One with its eight electric motors meets these specifications. It is capable of flying for 20 minutes and costs between $92,000–$128,000 depending on the production model and order time. They are sold out for 2026 with the earliest delivery date for one ordered now some time in 2027.

In contrast the ultralight that I own, the SkyPup is made mostly out of Styrofoam and other available building materials and is powered by a Rotax 277 with a special gear box. This engine is now out of production but used and rebuilt examples can be found for between $750 and about $2000. The Simonini Mini 2 Plus engine is very similar and is currently available for $3000.

The Rotax on mine can keep my Skypup in the air for hours with a range of over 200 miles when using a 5-gallon fuel tank. They can be constructed in a few hundred hours cost $3000-$5000 to put together. It is very easy to fly. Mine was flown by mistake the first time I did it, although my brother who has been a Captain for Southwest for decades flew it first.

It was built by two men who were in their 80s who had lost their medical certificates but were having fairly severe health issues by the time that they had completed it.

This is my skypup with me standing in front of it wearing a hang-glider parachute and cold weather gear.

This is where I had flown it that day. It can easily fly above 10,000 feet if lean jets are installed in the Mikuni Carburetor. Despite the much greater expense the Jetson One is not capable of this type of flight. And if the Skypup runs out of gas, it has a 10 to 1 glide ration and a 25mph landing speed which means you could likely find a spot to land without serious damage. The wings take about 10 minutes to take off, so it is not difficult to transport with its little trailer.

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