[taildragger]

Call me a Luddite, I get VTOL and the coming electric niche with that within given flight profiles.

However I have seen to many helicopters end up in fatalities and I wonder why no one has ever truly considered STOL ( and I mean really short takeoff as an alternative to VTOL until the kinks are out of these magic carpets.

With the advent of e-power and or hybrid an updated version of the Flying Flapjack ( yes in electric ) is not out of the question and would make a unique medivac machine IMHO, especially with the speed range it had. More that one homebuilder has discussed an update electric version of it. A lot of folks with more grey matter than I, have come up with some artist conceptions / CAD models that are enough to make you hmmmm...

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

I have seen to many helicopters end up in fatalities and I wonder why no one has ever truly considered STOL ( and I mean really short takeoff as an alternative to VTOL until the kinks are out of these magic carpets.

Taking off and landing like a helicopter, it can fly unrefueled for 670 nautical miles. That number increases to 1,000 nautical miles when you make a “running takeoff” from a short runway.

That last line makes it kinda hard to say that they are ignoring STOL altogether. Clearly, the fuel cost of a 670 nautical mile VTOL flight is expected to be dramatically higher than that of a 670 nautical mile STOL flight.