Advanced air mobility (AAM) company AIR announced on Tuesday that its AIR ONE electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) prototype has successfully completed its first series of hover tests. The company reports that the aircraft’s systems functioned as designed and its energy use was as predicted throughout the two weeks of testing. AIR says it plans to expand to full flight envelope testing later this year.
“We’ve been on this upward journey for nearly five years and cannot wait for the public to join us on this ride,” said AIR co-founder and CEO Rani Plaut. “This momentous milestone secures AIR’s spot as a market leader in the personal air mobility space, making the thrill of flight achievable on a daily basis. We look forward to continued growth as we launch into the next phase of development.”
According to Israel-based AIR, its two-seat AIR ONE eVTOL design will have a top speed of 155 MPH and 110-mile range and be capable of carrying a 441-pound payload. The company estimates that the aircraft, which it is marketing to individual owners rather than for commercial air taxi use, will have a 0 to 100 percent charge time of one hour. AIR is aiming to begin AIR ONE deliveries in 2024.
Please, a drone hovering is not news.
So it hovered. Market leader? Let’s decode the hyperbole: “This momentous milestone secures AIR’s spot as a market leader in the personal air mobility space, making the thrill of flight achievable on a daily basis…”
What is “the personal air mobility space”? It is GA. A little humility, please.
Hear, hear!
Priced like a helicopter, no doubt.
Could sell, especially if it is quieter than a helicopter and if you do not need to have it serviced so often.
And of course, as long as the first customers do not crash…
Visions of smoking holes in the ground.
Tim S: Well stated. Repeating hyperbolic press releases seems to be all this “editor-in-chief” can manage. Mr. Bertorelli needs to write MORE, and the other press-release-regurgitators LESS.
Ha ha ha ha ha! These articles are more comical and amusing (but less accurate) than watching Gutfeld on Fox. One hour charge, 155 mph, 110 mile range, available to the public in a year and a half? Hum… I wonder how much it will cost, and where are they in the certification process? Is the aviation public really thought to be so stupid and ignorant?
Dale, they are not marketing their machine to the aviation public. They are going after wealthy non-pilots who think it would be cool to have a flying toy that they can “fly” without any license or training. And, something they can take off and land in their back yard, so no long trips to an airport.
As for the 0-100% charge in an hour, you can do that if you don’t mind the risk of cooking off the batteries, or you install a water-cooled charge system to dissipate the heat. Oh, and you would need to install an expensive high amperage charging station at your house which will cost a pretty penny. But hey, if you can afford the electric toy, the charger shouldn’t be a big deal.
C’mon guys. The only planes in the fleet that met their promised specs and were released on time are now antiques (or maybe antiquities which sounds even older)
If you want to throw shade at the manned drone market, it’s not really effective to blame them for being just like Cirrus, Diamond, and any other new plane manufacturer.
It would be interesting to read the comment section of Avweb in 1903. “120 feet…. pfftt… this business will go nowhere!”
Is it OK if I call this thang a … contraption looking for a place to kill someone ?
Now lets see how it does with a couple people in it.