Austin start-up Lift Aircraft calls Hexa, its electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, the “future of personal flight”. So far it‘s been compared to a drone and a flying car. Hexa is essentially a recreational vehicle for the air, able to fly in 15-minute intervals at low altitudes. Lift plans to market them to millennials with disposable incomes – and anyone chasing an adrenaline high, because a pilot’s license isn’t required. The Covid-19 pandemic delayed plans, but Lift still says it will be touring locations across the US where anyone meeting height, weight, and age requirements can pay to fly. As of November 2019, Lift says it had more than 15,000 flights on a wait-list to ride Hexa. The company is also selling a small number of Hexas to buyers who will then rent them out. They cost US$495,000, and only five are still available. Here‘s how they work. Hexa flies through electric propulsion Electric cars are the future of transport in more ways than one. Hexa has 18 separate electric propellers and motors that move the vehicle through the air. Five floats, one large one in the centre with four around the sides, provide buoyancy for water landings. Apple’s new Singapore floating store is a sure-fire Instagram hotspot Hexa is surprisingly light, at only 196kg (432 pounds) We're excited to be on the forefront of this incredible new era of personal aerial vehicles! We're on a mission to truly democratize personal flight for the first time in history. #eVTOL #urbanairmobility #drones #aviation #flyingcar https://t.co/AmQJwJ7MCd — LIFT Aircraft Inc. (@LIFTAircraft) July 10, 2019 The frame is made entirely of carbon fibre. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) qualified Hexa as “ultralight”, so no pilot‘s license is necessary for flying. Instead, the autopilot computer with triple redundancies flies the vehicle along with a three-axis joystick. Or it can be controlled from the seven-inch touch screen. Lift says it gives ‘plenty of training’ before take-off All those redundancies also make Hexa safer; it can still fly and land with up to six motors disabled. As a backup, it also has a parachute and airbag system. The vehicle is built to carry one person. Before flying, that person must sign a waiver, then train in a virtual reality simulator. The ground crew then sets the passenger up in the vehicle for the ride, which is monitored the entire time. Why Mercedes and Porsche can’t catch up with Tesla “Autonomy is actually much easier in the air than for cars on the ground – there are far fewer obstacles, no roads, no traffic lights, and you have three dimensions to move around [in],” founder Matt Chasen said. When it approaches a certain battery level, Hexa will automatically land at a safe designated spot. Lift postponed a planned 25 city tour to show off the vehicle because of the pandemic, and the company says it is using that extra time for more testing and development. Eventually, the plan is for anyone who meets certain age and height requirements to be able to rent Hexa for a ride. Jeff Bezos did it back in 2018. Want more stories like this? Sign up here . Follow STYLE on Facebook , Instagram , YouTube and Twitter . This article originally appeared on Business Insider.
