We've all dreamed we could soar over traffic at some point in our lives, and now, we can. Jetson Aero is proposing a one-person electric aircraft that seems like one heck of a fun thing to fly. Yes, you read that right. This is a personal aerial vehicle, so whoever operates it doesn't need a pilot's license to hop in and take to the sky.
There has been growing interest in speeding up the development of electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft in recent years. As many industry players race to develop an Uber for the skies that could allow people to cross a traffic-clogged city in less time. The Swedish startup Jetson Aero is turning to personal aerial vehicles that offer flight convenience similar to that of a private car.
Its Jetson One aircraft is an octocopter with four arms stretching from its fuselage, each with a pair of rotors and a total output of 88 kW.This personal air taxi is categorized as an ultralight aircraft in the U.S. That means that it offers the freedom of flight with no pilot license required.
At just 90 kg (198 lbs), the aircraft is capable of reaching a top speed of 102 kph (63 mph). The operator uses a throttle lever, a joystick, and pedals to control its movements, while a computer ensures that the eVTOL is stable during flight.
The company says that you can easily climb as high as 1,500 meters (4,921 feet) with Jetson One, but we've only seen it fly close to the ground for now. And there's probably a reason for that.
Like many others proposed for personal aerial vehicles, the batteries have a limited range due to the low specific energy of current technologies, providing around 20 minutes of flight time. That may not be enough to offer an appropriate safety margin for finding a landing place in case of an emergency.
But Jetson Aero is assuring us that its aircraft is actually equipped with a ballistic parachute that can be deployed in no time in case you'd run out of power or, worse if more than a motor fails. Well, let's hope those scenarios don't come around often. Its eVTOL is also equipped with Lidar sensors-driven terrain tracking and obstacle avoidance, so you have that too to keep you out of trouble.
For a complete vehicle, you'd have to pay around $92,000, and the company says that it's going to deliver it to you as a partially assembled kit for that sum. The kit comes with an aluminum space frame, motor controllers, propellers and motors, and an assemble guide.
Currently, Jetson Aero's entire 2022 production is sold out. At the moment of writing this article, there are only three units left for 2023.
You can watch the Jetson One in action in the video down below.
Florina taught herself how to drive in a Daewoo Tico (a rebadged Suzuki Alto kei car) but her first "real car" was a VW Golf. When she’s not writing about cars, drones or aircraft, Florina likes to read anything related to space exploration and take pictures in the middle of nature. Full profile
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