Erik Lindbergh has formed a new aerospace company, VerdeGo Aero, he announced on Wednesday in a news release. Lindbergh, who is well-known in GA as an advocate for new technology and as the grandson of Charles Lindbergh, will serve as president of the company, which will be based at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s MicaPlex incubator in Daytona, Florida. “At VerdeGo Aero, we are building the first safe and efficient short-range vertical takeoff and landing aircraft for the millions of people stuck in traffic in cities around the world,” Lindbergh said. “Use your smartphone to book your Personal Air Taxi and your trip to a verti-port across town will take minutes instead of hours.”
The company aims to develop a VTOL, the PAT200, powered by hybrid-electric technology, with “full flight-envelope safety systems for the safest, quietest, and most efficient aircraft possible,” according to the news release. The tilt-wing aircraft will carry two passengers, with a cruise speed greater than 130 knots, for flights up to 40 miles. Eight electric motors will drive independent rotors. The company will be competing with a number of other groups looking toward developing similar technologies, from Volocopter to Airbus. Volocopter co-founder Alex Zosel said at a tech conference this week he expects his aircraft to be part of a commercial air-taxi service within two to three years.
