The UK-Based Startup Plans To Launch An ‘Air Taxi’ Service in 2022

[Vlad Kovalenko + 115]

A British energy entrepreneur and one-time Formula 1 racing team owner Stephen Fitzpatrick is entering the race to build new inter-city “flying taxi” services that tap recent aerospace advances while steering clear of more fanciful blue-sky visions touted by tech-focused rivals. He said his new venture will apply lessons from F1 racing to build electric Vertical Take Off and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft. The company  aims to launch the air taxi service by 2022, but wants to do it with onboard pilots in order to abide with aviation regulations.

[Adam Varga + 123]

Looks good, still believe Lilium to be in the lead. It has an advantage, because it can transition between hover and conventional forward flight, which is more efficient. Also, Lilium avoids very elegantly the helicopter-like tilt to the front when accelerating. Very important for anyone with upset stomachs. 

[BlackTortoise + 103]

Looks like a flying coffin to me. Already feel claustrophobic. 

 

 

[Stormysaga + 62]

Just now, BlackTortoise said:

Looks like a flying coffin to me. Already feel claustrophobic. 

 

 

That’s a sign in itself. 

[Adam Varga + 123]

 As long as a pilots license is needed to operate such a vehicle, I see no breakthrough.

[Stormysaga + 62]

It will be a nightmare living under all these noisy "taxis" taking all and sundry to work.  Our lives are blighted enough with noise without it being added to with thousands of these things going all over the place.

[Jan van Eck + 7,558]

I have been a pilot for decades.  No pilot is actually going to fly that thing for a paycheck.  Plus the costs of the service would be massive, given that the pilot's salary is covered by one passenger.  Plus that thing could only be operated in fair weather, not on instruments.  You will never be able to recruit enough pilots to launch such a service, and if you did, you would not be able to hold on to them, they would all quit and move on to serious aircraft.  This is an idea that is going nowhere, and that assumes that contraption can be controlled if you lose one propellor, which seems doubtful. 

Look, you cannot go take some drone toy and scale it up and make that a serious platform for commercial aviation,  That is not going to work. 

[Dan Warnick + 6,100]

What is it with these racing guys?  Do scammers look at them and see an easy mark?  I mean, they drive a car and they drive it extremely well.  Going from that to operating a fleet of these airships (Air Dinghies!  Folks, we're not there yet.), together with all that entails, for a launch years from now?  If I had this guy's ear, I would say invest in what you know: racing.  Line up the sponsors, be prepared to take a smaller percentage than what your ego says you should have, put your name all over it, find a way to be involved that allows you to enjoy it and take home enough money to live comfortably, get yourself a good financial adviser (obviously you don't have one now) and a good tax adviser, and enjoy life with modest (HUGE, to the rest of us) returns coming in for the rest of your life.

You see how easy it is to dream with somebody else's money?  Well that's what somebody is doing with this guy's money.

[Dan Warnick + 6,100]

Thanks for the photo, Tom.