The Kitty Hawk Flyer is the first personal flying vehicle. The Flyer is 100% electric and the first step to making flying a part of everyday life.
The 250-pound Flyer can fly up to 20 mph and flies between three and 10 feet above the water. It can stay in the air for 20 minutes at a time for about 7-mile range. It fits into the FAA’s ultralight category, along with things like powered gliders. The FAA restricts it to uncontrolled airspace and places that don’t have people on the ground. The Kitty Hawk team decided lakes, bays, and other large bodies of water were the safest bets.
The pilot controls direction with a joystick in one hand and speed with a slider in the other. There are no other controls, instruments, or screens. They have tried to make flying as intuitive and simple as possible. A computer quietly handles the complicated business of actually staying level. The pilot just has to push the control in the direction they want to go.
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
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