Urban transportation is the pits. Congested streets and sparse parking make downtown driving a pain. What if there was a way to avoid traffic jams and parking garages by soaring over the city? Could an ultralight be the answer? Dubai is going to find out. Volocopter, a promising start-up in Germany, is changing the urban travel scene in Dubai. Over the next five years, Volocopter will be testing their flying taxi over congested city streets in Dubai.
Volocopter’s vision is a world full of environmentally conscious travelers. They are looking to the skies to resolve mobility issues. In their words:
Traffic congestion, emissions and extremely high costs for infrastructure are already pushing cities to their limits. Social challenges of this magnitude require a new perspective at times. In our case: The view towards the third dimension. We want to make every human being’s dream of flying come true and help modern cities resolve increasing mobility issues.
Their solution is an ultralight multicopter. They’ve designed a vertical take off and landing aircraft powered by eighteen electric motors, but even with so many motors, the Volocopter 2X is super quiet. It can fly in and pick up passengers without being a disturbance. Astoundingly, there is a lone joystick at the helm. How is this possible? The Volocopter 2X has over 100 microprocessors installed. With all of these microprocessors, it can sustain stable flight on its own. The pilot is merely along for the ride.
With all this automation, the Volocopter 2X won’t appeal to pilots that enjoy the thrill of controlling an aircraft; altitude control, banking, and compensating for wind drift are all automatic. This ultralight multicopter is specifically designed as an air taxi. The Volocopter 2X’s future appears very promising.
