Tag: uav

Airbus flying vehicles

Airbus Group plans to test a prototype for a self-piloted flying car as a way of avoiding gridlock on city roads by the end of the year. Airbus last year formed a division called Urban Air Mobility that is exploring concepts such as a vehicle to transport individuals or a helicopter-style vehicle that can carry multiple riders. The aim would be for people to book the vehicle using an app, similar to car-sharing schemes. “100 years ago, urban transport went underground, now we have the technological wherewithal to go above ground We are in an experimentation phase, we take this development very seriously.” Airbus recognizes such technologies would have to be clean to avoid further polluting congested cities.

Lilium

A start-up company—hosted in a ESA business incubator center released an idea for an egg-shaped 2-seater plane called Lilium that’s currently in the works. With a top speed of 400 kmh and a range of 500 km, the plane can travel between Munich and Berlin in 90 minutes. If the testing succeeds, this will be the world’s first vertical takeoff and landing aircraft for personal use.

and the first flight:

With the first flight now a memory, Lilium will run its aircraft through increasingly complex maneuvers, including the transition between vertical and horizontal flight, runs between cities, in inclement weather, and with a variety of degrees of automation. If all goes well, passengers will experience the flights in trials well ahead of the 2025 target for a fully operational service.