The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

First manned flight in Singapore: German air taxi offensive

2019-10-22T10:46:45.749Z


The Daimler subsidiary Volocopter has successfully completed a test flight with a taxi in Singapore. Almost at the same time announced another German company a breakthrough in a similar aircraft.



The German manufacturer Volocopter has successfully completed a manned test flight with an autonomous flight taxi in the Southeast Asian city of Singapore. The white carbon fiber aircraft turned over the Port of Marina Bay of the metropolis on Tuesday for about a minute and then landed safely again.

On board, however, was only a pilot, not a passenger. The aim of the company from the Bruchsal in Baden is to start commercial operations in Singapore in 2021. Thus, the city-state would be the first country in the world that allows the regular operation of air taxi.

photo gallery


8 pictures

German Flight Taxi: Volocopter flies over Singapore

The so-called Volocopter 2X looks like a hybrid of a small helicopter and a big drone. He flies with the help of 18 rotors. It is powered electrically, the energy is stored in a battery. The CEO of Volocopter, Florian Reuter, sees his company on the home straight, flight taxis are "nothing for a distant future". So far, only one passenger has space in the Volocopter. In the future, five or six passengers should be able to fly with it.

The start-up Lilium is also making progress

The metropolis Singapore is considered as a kind of future laboratory of urban planning. However, there is still no timetable from the local authorities as to when airline taxis may be traveling. Discussed are a route from the airport to the financial district, especially for business people, as well as a route for tourists who want to go from the city center to the island of Sentosa.

Coinciding with the Volocopter flight announced the start-up Lilium from Munich, which has designed the Lilium Jet, to have achieved a speed of more than 100 kilometers per hour in a flight. This completes the first test phase. The company plans to commercialize in 2025.

Then the also electrically powered aircraft with 36 rotors in wing-like arms to reach speeds of up to 300 km / h and have a range of 300 kilometers. In Wessling near Munich, where up to now 350 employees at Lilium have been employed at an industrial airport, a production plant with around 500 additional jobs will be set up.

photo gallery


9 pictures

Prototype: First flight taxi with hydrogen drive

Recently, other German manufacturers, including the German automaker Porsche announced to enter the business with the electric aircraft. Porsche is teaming up with the US aircraft manufacturer Boeing. Among other things, the two companies want to develop and test an electric whiz-starter for use in cities.

Audi also worked with Airbus and Italdesign on the development of a taxicab, but now announced the exit from the project. The group wants to realign its strategy in the field of urban aviation.

Source: spiegel

All tech articles on 2019-10-22

You may like

News/Politics 2024-02-01T13:09:44.603Z

Trends 24h

Tech/Game 2024-03-27T18:05:36.686Z

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.