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At the price of a luxury car: AIR's flying tool on the way
It will fly a distance of 160 km, take off and land from the scene and is equipped with a shell of safety systems. The AIR ONE is approaching the production stage
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Keenan Cohen
Wednesday, 20 October 2021, 17:54 Updated: 19:27
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Will it become a transportation solution or will it remain as a flying equivalent to a sports car?
(Photo: Manufacturer's website)
As far back as the 1950s we were assured that Otto we were all going to move to flying cars, however in the meantime all the solutions that claimed to offer this combination ended up with a car that did not drive well and a bad flying aircraft.
But AIR, an Israeli company from Pardes Hanna that was established only 4 years ago, declares that it has succeeded in "reinventing personal aviation" through AIR ONE.
The small tool uses four dual rotors that allow vertical takeoff and landing but also a double wing and tail structure that will allow it higher speed, range and stability than other multi-rotor transportation solutions being developed by aviation giants like Boeing, Airbus and car manufacturers.
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The power to the engines is given by a 60 kWh battery, similar to the volume used by medium-sized electric cars. "That.
A weight limit of 200 km means that it will be enough for two generous passengers or two light passengers and not a lot of luggage
.
The desire to allow him to fly with a special pilot's license for such tools (Photo: Manufacturer's website)
Roni Plaut, CEO and co-founder of AIR (Photo: Yoram Ashheim)
Naturally, concerns about such a tool stem from two key aspects - the first is safety and the second is operational.
For example, a car malfunction may get you stuck on the side of the road, but one of these in aircraft has completely different meanings as they do not tend to stop in the sky and wait for the flying tow. In this respect, it is clear to AIR that a significant challenge in transmitting traffic to the air begins with getting people to trust such a product. "We need to build consumer confidence in eVTOL (take-off and landing technology developed by KK) as a legitimate use of daily transportation," said Rani Plaut, CEO and co-founder of AIR. Safely and in quantities that will allow reasonable prices "
The issue of safety is addressed in AIR ONE, similar to the general approach in the world of aviation to the field, where the key word is "redundancy" - that is, a situation where a critical system failure or failure will not lead to a life-threatening malfunction.
So in the field of batteries, motors and other critical components that the company says one can lose one and still land safely.
For other emergencies the tool is equipped with a parachute.
Two passengers and luggage, up to 200 kg (Photo: manufacturer's website)
The second aspect concerns the operation of the aircraft.
AIR claims that using their flight control with Fly by Intent software also allows users who are not necessarily highly skilled or professional pilots to operate the tool as well as enable self-controls to ensure safety in routine maintenance.
In this regard, AIR reports that over the past two years the company has been in contact with the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and it is considering two alternatives, the first is to settle for a certificate similar to a sports license that requires only 15 hours of training.
The second is to build a special flight license for its own category of simpler aircraft to fly.
As far as Israel is concerned, we are at a very early stage of the story, but AIR is convinced that the issue will be clarified "long before the first tools are handed over."
Vehicle or pan?
Not sure you should choose (Photo: Manufacturer's website)
While some of the electronics and control systems will be manufactured in Israel, the tool itself will be built in the United States and later the possibility of manufacturing in Europe and Asia will be examined.
AIR does not specify the price of the official aircraft, but in answer to our question it was said that it will probably be less than $ 200,000 and the current operating cost will be several tens of dollars per flight hour.
In terms of the aviation world, even the amateur is talking about very low amounts.
The official price will be revealed by the company in early 2022.
When will you be able to pay this amount?
At the moment you can register and pay only an advance, but until the beginning of 2022 the full price will be published.
More or less in time the company will move to manned hovering trials, after so far the company has only flown unmanned vessels, in June a full maiden flight is expected and if all goes well, the delivery of the first vessels is expected in 2024.
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