1- Considering fuel density and probably 4 running engines, autonomy would be minutes, while all aircraft are required to have at least 30mn reserve.
2- FAA will never certify such a thing. This leaves only the experimental option, with all that entails commercially.
3- Ballistic parachutes : They are very heavy and it costs 10k to repack every couple years. Plus it's basically a rocket firing out of the plane, another hurdle.
4- Insurance : Who would insure such a thing ? It is hard enough for a certified GA plane.
5- Noise restrictions of two to four jet engines in an era of going full electric, even for planes (pipistrel anyone ?)
6- Autonomous drones can be made, that fly and land alone. Yet, we don't have any GA plane doing the same and have to pass complex exams in order to fly an aircraft. It will be the same for that one, not necessarily because it will be needed to pilot it, but to guarantee airspace security.
7- Good luck with talking on the radio with all the noise + wind. Once again, this is mandatory in many airspaces and probably all where such a machine would be useful.
8- Weather : I guess you probably have never ridden a motorbike in the pouring rain. Now imagine being cold to the bones and having to keep managing that aircraft, navigating and communicating. Good luck with that.
9- Loads of comments mentioning Tesla and SpaceX. Well, there is a sizeable difference with them : the market size.
This company is also facing stronger regulation than Tesla, while having not a hundredth of the funding.
10- Numbers are already bad for GA airplanes with autopilot and al. But any failure on such a thing would almost certainly result in death. + Ballistic parachute opening requires man to be strapped to aircraft.
All things factored in, it feels like yet another project surfing on CAD generated hype, out of touch with most real world problems and justifying it's existence through being a "Moonshot".
But we are yet to see any successful moonshot. Let me explain : Companies like SpaceX or Planet where built enhancing the tech that was already there and R&D could be done with ridiculous amounts of funding. Musk's track record was also incredible at the time, with two major exits (Zip, PayPal).
It is sad to see history repeating itself so often: You are basically promising what helicopters were supposed to become and yet they are far from ubiquitous despite their high efficiency, speed and load carrying abilities. I do believe in some VTOL projects but most of them are ridiculous and won't go out of the R&D phase.
Best of luck in any case. I am ready to invite you for dinner should you manage to have a working prototype in two years.
2- FAA will never certify such a thing. This leaves only the experimental option, with all that entails commercially.
3- Ballistic parachutes : They are very heavy and it costs 10k to repack every couple years. Plus it's basically a rocket firing out of the plane, another hurdle.
4- Insurance : Who would insure such a thing ? It is hard enough for a certified GA plane.
5- Noise restrictions of two to four jet engines in an era of going full electric, even for planes (pipistrel anyone ?)
6- Autonomous drones can be made, that fly and land alone. Yet, we don't have any GA plane doing the same and have to pass complex exams in order to fly an aircraft. It will be the same for that one, not necessarily because it will be needed to pilot it, but to guarantee airspace security.
7- Good luck with talking on the radio with all the noise + wind. Once again, this is mandatory in many airspaces and probably all where such a machine would be useful.
8- Weather : I guess you probably have never ridden a motorbike in the pouring rain. Now imagine being cold to the bones and having to keep managing that aircraft, navigating and communicating. Good luck with that.
9- Loads of comments mentioning Tesla and SpaceX. Well, there is a sizeable difference with them : the market size. This company is also facing stronger regulation than Tesla, while having not a hundredth of the funding.
10- Numbers are already bad for GA airplanes with autopilot and al. But any failure on such a thing would almost certainly result in death. + Ballistic parachute opening requires man to be strapped to aircraft.
All things factored in, it feels like yet another project surfing on CAD generated hype, out of touch with most real world problems and justifying it's existence through being a "Moonshot". But we are yet to see any successful moonshot. Let me explain : Companies like SpaceX or Planet where built enhancing the tech that was already there and R&D could be done with ridiculous amounts of funding. Musk's track record was also incredible at the time, with two major exits (Zip, PayPal).
It is sad to see history repeating itself so often: You are basically promising what helicopters were supposed to become and yet they are far from ubiquitous despite their high efficiency, speed and load carrying abilities. I do believe in some VTOL projects but most of them are ridiculous and won't go out of the R&D phase.
Best of luck in any case. I am ready to invite you for dinner should you manage to have a working prototype in two years.
S