Posted on 01/26/2026 4:42:06 AM PST by DFG
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.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
LOL!
So when it crashes, you have a 100% chance of dying instead of 10%.
The Chinook rotors are connected by a shaft. Hard to lose one rotor. Electric motors could auto rotate by wire as generators if batteries drop out.
Way cool! Given the state of New York and New Jersey drivers, expect the populations of those states to be significantly reduced in short order.
Let me guess, it’s powered by Cold Fusion, which will also be available in 2 years?
Eliminates tolls?
Many years ago, I was an engineer working for Honeywell Avionics. We were at the Collins Avionics facility coordinating on a bid proposal. The Collins people told us that the decline in private plan manufacturing started when Mooney was sued for the crash of a plane they’d built thirty years before. The court ruled that because fuel injection was a “known technology” and they’d produced a plane with a carburetor and the carburetor had iced over, that they were liable for damages in the crash. At that point several small builders decided they had unlimited liability and went out of business. As did Mooney. The remaining manufacturers tripled the price of their products to set aside money to pay lawsuits.
It’s impossible to search for cost data when the Internet is focused entirely on selling you something. So, take it or leave it.
“It’s impossible to search for cost data when the Internet is focused entirely on selling you something. So, take it or leave it.”
Not impossible. In 2000 a new 172 was almost $300k.
Now it is about $500k.
Definitely not a triple.
Pump and dump. 3D traffic jams and accidents...better to invest in cremation companies.
Thank you for sharing your extensive knowledge, experience and background here.
You were responding to TexasGator who indicated in post 33 that he did not believe your statement that liability costs tripled the expense of a new aircraft. One might think that he would apologize after you responded. TexasGator went on in post 35 to tell ComputerGuy that "he needed to do his homework" after ComputerGuy stated in post 3, "If a single motor fails, you’re......" to which TexasGator replied in post 30 that all you needed to do was "Initiate engine out procedure and procede to landing." Of course, TexasGator post had already insulted shadeaud in post 31 who observed, “Not much space for your luggage”. To which TexasGator replied, "Your built-in bias prevented you from being the luggage compartment."
I mention this because there has been an ongoing issue with TexasGator starting his participation in a thread by insulting other posters, or even the OP. And then saying more stupid stuff, insulting people who bother to reply to him/her, and then claiming to be the victim if someone points out the idiocy that he/she has polluted a thread with and then threatening them saying that they were violating the rules. At this point I consider him/her to be comic relief, but I apologize to everyone in this thread who might not be as familiar with his/her antics and ask those who he/she did this to here to forgive his/her obvious struggle with the Dunning-Kruger effect.
It is typically not worth responding directly to his/her posts unless you enjoy trading insults with someone with very limited intellectual ability.
I am here because I am a long-time aviation enthusiast starting with kites, paper and balsa models, graduating to hang gliding, ultralight aircraft, vintage aircraft, and in my old age driving a Piper Cherokee around the pattern and beyond. But I also love to play with drones and various flight simulators.
To me it is not enjoyable to find TexasGater up to his typical antics especially on threads that I have extensive personal knowledge of. I wish he would just stick to being an unapologetic Zeeper and spreading misinformation on threads where people actually enjoy this type of activity.
😂😂😂
“You were responding to TexasGator who indicated in post 33 that he did not believe your statement that liability costs tripled the expense of a new aircraft. “
You are a lying troll.
+10
“But I also love to play with drones and various flight simulators.”
Licensed private pilot
MSFS 2024
Intel Ultra 9, RTX 5080
“You were responding to TexasGator who indicated in post 33 that he did not believe your statement that liability costs tripled the expense of a new aircraft. “
I only asked for his source.
“One might think that he would apologize after you responded. “
He didn’t provide any verifiable info.
“TexasGator went on in post 35 to tell ComputerGuy that “he needed to do his homework” after ComputerGuy stated in post 3, “If a single motor fails, you’re......” to which TexasGator replied in post 30 that all you needed to do was “Initiate engine out procedure and procede to landing.”
Which was a technically correct response to a dumb post by a guy too biased to know the facts.
I have worked on a dozen of these aircraft over the past twenty years. None of them have ever come to market and none of them will.
Now it is about $500k.
Definitely not a triple.
In 2000 the average new Cessna 172 cost between $135,000 to $150,000.. In 2025 Base models started at around $400,000, while fully equipped versions with Garmin G1000 NXi avionics can exceed $500,000 or reach up to $650,000 with extras like autopilots.
You should try to stick with subjects that you have some actual knowledge of!
I can’t think of a single business where you would be allowed to land a helicopter in the parking lot, much less this.
Anyone who goes through the thread and looks at what you posted can verify what has been written. I even included the post numbers to make it easier.
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