Take a First Look at Larry Page’s Latest Flying Car

Kitty Hawk, a aerial vehicle startup that's funded by Google cofounder Larry Page, opened its Flyer "flying car" for select test flights for businesses and social media influencers on Wednesday.
The Flyer, a recreational and lightweight aircraft, has been advertised as needing only an hour's-worth of training before pilots are ready to fly.

The Kitty Hawk Flyer sports 10 battery-powered propellors and two control sticks, and looks like a human-sized drone, according to photos and videos of the final design posted to the Kitty Hawk website on Wednesday morning. At first, it will go 20 miles per hour and fly up to 10 feet in the air, the company said.

An earlier prototype, introduced an article in the New York Times in early 2017, included protective netting around the pilot seat and a pair of red-tipped pontoons as landing gear.
The company didn’t say when the Flyer would go on sale or how much it would cost. It’s likely the vehicle will first be made available to luxury resorts or clubs as a form of recreation over open water, similar to the water jet pack.

The Flyer is one of two major initiatives at Kitty Hawk. The other, dubbed Cora, is a two-seat electric aircraft with 13 rotors that takes off and lands vertically and is designed as a transportation alternative in cities. The company is currently testing Cora in New Zealand. On its website, Kitty Hawk says the plan is to offer the aircraft as “part of a service similar to an airline or a rideshare.”

At least a dozen other companies around the world, including Airbus, Uber and a startup called Joby Aviation, are also pursuing the sci-fi dream of personal aircraft that can zoom over congested highways. While Kitty Hawk is developing single-seat and two-seat aircraft, other companies are looking at vehicles that seat from four to six, imagining this new form of transportation as akin to a flying taxi cab.

Power
The Flyer is all-electric, powered by a lithium polymer battery. The battery lasts for about 20 minutes before it needs to be recharged. Because of the electric power, Kitty Hawk says the Flyer will be pretty quiet - about the sound of a lawnmower from 50 feet away, and the sound of a loud conversation from 250 feet.

Operation
The Flyer is controlled by only two joysticks, so it's intended to be used by pilots with little to no experience with flying. For first-time flyers, the altitude is limited to 10 feet, and the speed is limited to 20 mph - although Kitty Hawk CEO Sebastian Thrun says the vehicles should one day be able to fly at speeds of up to 100 mph.

Stabilization
Similar to how consumer drones are self-stabilized to avoid tipping and to provide a smoother flight, the Flyer has an internal system that regulates the stabilization of the vehicle.
Takeoff and Landing
The 10 motors on top of the Flyer allow it to operate like a drone or helicopter does - which means vertical tak

June 06, 2018