The Zapata Airscooter Is the World’s First eVTOL Rental in Las Vegas

After building a flying jet bike and hoverboard, Franky Zapata has created a futuristic drone. But he’s really selling an ancient fantasy like the one pictured above. “It’s being able to fly all by yourself,” says the French serial inventor, whose previous creations include the Flyboard, the world’s smallest jet-engine aircraft, and Zapata’s JetRacer. “Flying is something that people have dreamed of for centuries, since they were living in caves. And this machine is almost the only one in the world that lets them do it.”

The “machine” is Zapata’s new AirScooter, a single-seat rotocopter with hybrid AV fuel-electric propulsion and a computer-assisted fly-by-wire system that manages the aircraft’s heading, speed and altitude 100 times per second, which makes it “easier to fly than driving a car or an ATV,” he says.

The public will soon find out if that’s true. In January, Zapata will open a flight center near Las Vegas, where dreamers can fly on a geofenced track that winds around the roughly 50-acre property. Since the 250-pound vehicle qualifies for the FAA’s FAR Part 103 ultralight classification, would-be pilots don’t need a license or certification.

Instead, they’ll get about an hour of training, first on a virtual-reality simulator, then for about 20 minutes in the vehicle. Once they’re on the course, they’ll have another 20 minutes or so to do some serious scooting, potentially reaching a top speed of about 60 mph while, literally, soaring through the air. “It’s a completely different type of machine that gives the ability to fly where nobody else flies,” says Zapata.

The two-hour experience will cost between $350 and $500, and there are a few restrictions. Flyers can’t weigh more than the machine (245-pound limit), winds can’t exceed 30 mph and vehicles can’t quite soar to the clouds (150-foot altitude limit, although the scooter can rise to 10,000 feet or more).

A second phase, which Zapata hopes to bring online by early spring, will include 1.5-hour tours over the nearby valleys and mountains. Both phases should draw their share of deep-pocketed thrill seekers away from the craps tables. Fans with deep pockets have an opportunity to take theirs home: Zapata plans to sell AirScooters for $250,000 apiece, starting next year.

Chinese eVTOL maker eHang has a similar electric air taxi operation, though that one is piloted remotely in several Chinese cities. Austin, Texas-based Lift also sees a viable path to profitability by renting its one-person Hexa with a similar business model as Zapata.

Zapata talks about his vision of “democratizing flight,” through “airborne mass individual transport,” envisioning a day when everyone can “take off from his garden and land in his friend’s garden.” That makes it all sound so altruistic, but is it realistic?

Probably not. Most people don’t have $250K for a one-person flying machine, especially one that travels for about two hours at an ideal cruise of 35 mph. That gives it a range of 70 miles, which isn’t terribly practical for many use cases. The obvious exception? Traffic-choked urban and suburban areas. The problem is that ultralights are prohibited by the FAA from flying over cities or towns.

Of course, if you have a few hundred open acres well away from populated areas, the AirScooter could be a good way to indulge your fantasy of flight.