Category: Alternative Transportation

Massimiliano Pane

By CHRIS STONOR

Italy-based Urban V, recently announced its intention to develop a flying taxi network for the Caribbean, reports sknvibes.com. The company is owned by Aeroporti di Roma, SAVE Group, Aeroporto di Bologna and Aeroports de la Côte d’Azur in France and has been set up for the development of global Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) infrastructure.

Urban V is presently in discussion with a Caribbean airline regarding a pilot project connecting a number of islands. The company also plans to establish stakeholder partnerships with local airports, cruise ship ports and major hotels and resorts.

Massimiliano Pane, Urban V’s Head of Business Development and Finance, commented, “We have the ambition to be among the first in the world to launch Advanced Air Mobility commercial networks. We plan to activate the first route by the end of 2024 in Rome.”

He continued, “Last October, UrbanV unveiled in Rome, Europe’s first test vertiport adjacent to one of Europe’s busiest airport hubs with crewed public trial flights.”

Continue reading… “URBAN V AIMS TO DEVELOP A CARIBBEAN FLYING TAXI NETWORK”

It’s a massive 2-ton vehicle with a huge drone strapped to the roof that just successfully completed its maiden flight. 

By: Andrei Nedelea

The arrival of commercially viable flying cars has been erroneously foretold countless times before over the course of the last century, but in recent years, with the popularization of electric vehicles, the idea that we will travel around like the Jetsons in the foreseeable future seems to be gaining traction again. Companies dedicated to providing such a product are now popping up, and other companies like China’s Xpeng are also looking allocating resources for this.

They even created a separate company, Xpeng HT, with the sole focus of creating eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) vehicles and now that company shared video of its prototype’s maiden flight during a larger Xpeng presentation in China. The final part of the video embedded at the start of the article is dedicated to the Xpeng AeroHT’s first flight – we get to see it drive out of a garage (or hangar), then it is weighed, revealing that it weighs just under 2 metric tons (4,400 pound), before firing up its eight large rotors and lifting off.

Continue reading… “Watch Xpeng VTOL Flying Electric Car Successfully Complete First Flight”

The world’s first electromagnetic ultra-high-speed propulsion ground testing facility “Electromagnetic Sled” has begun operation in Jinan City, east China’s Shandong Province.

The facility has a maximum propulsion speed of 1,030 kilometers per hour for objects of a tonne or more, setting the world’s highest speed record for high-mass ultra-high-speed electromagnetic propulsion technology.

It is a major project of strategic cooperation between the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the governments of Shandong Province and Jinan City.

Continue reading… “World’s first ‘Electromagnetic Sled’ begins operation in China”

It calls the four-passenger craft a ‘candidate for FAA certification.’

By S. Dent

Wisk Aero has unveiled its 6th-generation semi-autonomous air taxi, calling it the “first-ever candidate for type certification by the FAA of an autonomous eVTOL.” The design looks like a substantially updated version of the “Cora” air taxi we first saw fly and hover in New Zealand back in 2018. However, the company didn’t show any flight or detail the certification progress.

According to Wisk, the four-seat aircraft can cruise between 110 and 120 knots (138 MPH) at a height of 2,500 to 4,000 feet above ground level. It’s a VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) aircraft with a 12-propeller design, featuring tilting propulsion units in front and fixed units aft for lift. It offers up to 90 miles of range and has improved control and efficient energy management over previous versions, according to the press release. 

Continue reading… “Wisk Aero’s latest flying taxi has four seats and can fly itself”

TOYOTA, Japan, Sept. 30, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — SkyDrive Inc. has unveiled the design of its commercial model flying car — the SkyDrive SD-05.

SkyDrive is planning to use the SD-05, currently in development, to launch air taxi service in the Osaka Bay area during the world exposition scheduled for 2025 in Osaka, Japan.

“This is another big step towards the realization of flying cars and sky roads,” said Takumi Yamamoto, SkyDrive design director. “Two years have passed since the announcement of the SD-03, which successfully completed its public manned flight test in August 2020, and we are very happy to be able to announce its successor, the SD-05.”

Headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture, SkyDrive is a leading developer and manufacturer of flying cars (*1) and cargo drones in Japan.

Continue reading… “SkyDrive Unveils SD-05 Flying Car Design, Aiming to Begin Air Taxi Service in 2025”

It can fly for 40 minutes and go up to 100 km per hour (Picture: Masatoshi Okauchi/REX)

By Anugraha Sundaravelu

Flying motorbikes are not something that exist in science fiction anymore.

On Thursday, a hoverbike built by Japanese manufacturers made its debut at the Detroit Auto Show.

Drawing inevitable comparisons to the speeder bikes of ‘Star Wars’, the futuristic bikes are scheduled to launch in the United States next year.

The XTURISMO hoverbike is made by Japanese startup AERWINS Technologies and can fly for 40 minutes, reaching speeds of up to 100 km per hour.

‘I feel like I’m literally 15 years old and I just got out of “Star Wars” and jumped on their bike,’ said Thad Szott, co-chair of the auto show after taking a test drive – or, perhaps, a test hover.

‘I mean, it’s awesome! Of course, you have a little apprehension, but I was just so amped. I literally had goosebumps and feel like a little kid,’

Continue reading… “A Star Wars-like hoverbike is set to launch in the US next year”

With its intuitive cockpit, Doroni says you only need 20 hours of flight training and a license to fly its H1. 

By MICHAEL VERDON

Miami-based Doroni has started to accept pre-orders for its “personal” flying machines. The company recently showed off the cockpit of its H1 aircraft at the EAA AirVenture in Wisconsin, using VR headsets to simulate takeoff, flight and landing.

Doroni is going after a different market than most eVTOL manufacturers, which are building air taxis for intra-city use. Instead, it’s targeting personal pilots, much like the Jetson, with an aircraft it claims will be intuitive and much easier to fly than a helicopter or conventional airplane. 

Company officials yesterday said in a webinar that they plan to “democratize” general aviation with a “semi-autonomous” aircraft designed for safety. CEO Doron Merdinger said anyone with a standard car driver’s license and 20-hour training course should be able to fly the H1.

Continue reading… “This New Electric ‘Flying Car’ Can Be Piloted With a Driver’s License—and It Will Fit in Your Garage”

Successful test saw 2.8-tonne vehicles travel at speeds of 230kph while floating 35mm above the road 

By Anthony Cuthbertson

A car equipped with magnetic levitation (maglev) technology has been successfully tested on a highway in China, according to local media.

The 2.8-tonne vehicle hovered 35 millimetres above the road surface, powered by electromagnetic force and guided by pre-installed conducting rails.

The test, carried out by researchers at the Jiaotong University of Chengdu, aimed to calculate the feasibility of adopting maglev technology in this manner on a broader scale.

Maglev cars could significantly increase the lifespan of the vehicles, while also reducing energy consumption and increasing their range.

A dedicated lane for maglev cars could also offer safety benefits and be coordinated in a way to prevent traffic jams.

Continue reading… “China tests maglev cars that hover above highway”

It’s generating some serious buzz.

A Canadian startup called TransPod wants to revolutionize ground-based transportation by sending magnetically levitated trains through vacuum-sealed tubes at ludicrous speeds.

It’s a highly ambitious — and immensely expensive, nevermind comically vague — concept that’s generated some serious buzz in recent weeks.

And we can’t shake the feeling that we’ve seen this kind of design before. Remember the “Hyperloop?”

The Hyperloop is a concept popularized by Tesla CEO Elon Musk eons ago. But despite millions in funding, the handful of Hyperloop companies in existence have yet to break any meaningful ground — and we can’t help but wonder if TransPod will suffer a similar fate.

According to the company, its “FluxJet” is “a hybrid between an aircraft and a train,” and relies on electricity alone for propulsion.

Each pod is just over 80 feet long and can fit up to 54 passengers. Within cities, the train will more or less operate like a maglev monorail, but out in the open, it’s designed to blast through vacuum-sealed tubes, like the Hyperloop.

Continue reading… “Startup Says Train Powered by “Veillance Flux” Could Travel 620 MPH”

BY DAVE MCQUILLING
Have you ever been stuck in bad traffic and daydreaming about how easy life would be if your car could just fly over the half-mile of honking metal in front of you? Well, those dreams could soon come true, sort of. The solution could be air taxis, which are basically exactly what they sound like: flying vehicles that are capable of taking a small number of passengers on short-range trips. Although it may seem like one of those futuristic ideas that are perpetually five years away, air taxis are already here, and some major companies have bought into the idea.

One of the most recent air taxi acquisitions was by United Airlines. The airline has already put down a $10 million deposit as part of a staggering $1 billion partnership with air taxi manufacturer Archer Aviation. The down payment will go toward the initial 100 air taxis United has ordered. Production on those aircraft is expected to begin in 2023, and the $1 billion deal could see United acquire 200 air taxis in total. In a statement, Archer Aviation CEO celebrated what he called the industry’s “first real cash commitment,” according to Popular Science.

United isn’t the only airline interested in air taxis and the possibilities they might bring. American Airlines and Boeing are also investing heavily in the concept. According to The Wall Street Journal, Boeing is throwing $450 million into a joint venture with Google co-founder Larry Page. If the Boeing/Page effort bears fruit, you could be whizzing around a city in a self-flying air taxi within the next few years. American Airlines has chosen to back Vertical Aerospace, a similar company to Archer Aviation, to the tune of $25 million.

Continue reading… “Air Taxis Are About To Change The Future Of Travel”

Franky Zapata is back with another epic jet-powered flying machine

By Loz Blain

When we last saw Franky Zapata back in May, he was spinning uncontrollably down into the water from a serious height in a terrifying jetboard crash. But the flying Frenchman is back to launch a new, high-speed personal aircraft called the JetRacer.

Zapata has already built a resume most would be proud of. A former jet ski world champion, he went on to invent the Flyboard, a jet ski attachment that re-routes its water jets to let users rise out of the water like the love-child of Aquaman and Iron Man. Before long, he’d ditched the jet ski altogether, and moved to jet turbines to create the Flyboard Air, which allowed him to zoom around like the Green Goblin and set all sorts of records, on nothing more than a backpack full of kerosene fuel. He also built an “Ezfly” version with handles, a Segway of the skies for the rest of us, for whom no quantity of brown undies would ever suffice. 

The latest vehicle in the Zapata stable builds on this small-turbine technology base but takes things in a new direction. The JetRacer is effectively a carbon-fiber bucket seat that flies on the thrust from 10 of the same small jets that power the Flyboards. 

Continue reading… “Zapata launches 250-km/h, flip-capable, jet-powered flying deck chair”

By Miquel Ros

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The aerospace industry is currently living through an era of innovation, unlike anything it has seen in recent years. From drones and air taxis to sea gliders and new clean propulsion technologies, it seems that the floodgates of creativity are wide open following decades of slow but steady incremental advances. Even airships may be about to stage a comeback.

This passion for innovation is encouraging entrepreneurs from across the globe to propose ever more outlandish concepts — one of which is the eye-catching Air Yacht, a hybrid vehicle that looks like a crossover between an airship and a catamaran.

This futuristic aircraft is the work of Italian designer Pierpaolo Lazzarini, founder of Rome-based Lazzarini Design Studio, which has designed a number of innovative projects for the automotive, yachting and aerospace industries.

Continue reading… “The flying megayacht: Italian designer devises exclusive catamaran blimp”