AIR One is being tested at a Florida facility as it progresses towards certification.
AIR
Zipping around in a “Jetsons”-like personal aircraft is no longer just the stuff of cartoons. An electric two-seat plane has moved a step closer to reality thanks to the Federal Aviation Administration’s recent airworthiness certificate for the AIR One eVTOL. The approval will allow more rapid testing of the two-person aircraft at AIR’s Florida facility, following several years of testing at AIR’s headquarters in Israel. By establishing itself in the much larger U.S. market, the company plans to become the first eVTOL to be FAA-certified in the Light Sport Aircraft (LSA) category.
“The Experimental Airworthiness Certification is a green light to advance our mission and expand our U.S. footprint,” said Rani Plaut, CEO and cofounder of AIR, in a statement. “We’re thrilled to help reshape air mobility and deliver solutions that will drive the future of personal and commercial transportation all over the world.”
In June, President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order that directed the FAA to create an eVTOL Integration Pilot Program (eIPP). The order is designed to speed up the development, testing, and deployment of electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft. It expedites certification of larger, five-seat electric air taxis from U.S. manufacturers such as Joby, Archer and Eve Air Mobility as well as smaller aircraft like the AIR One.
Unlike the larger eVTOLs, AIR One will be considered a recreational aircraft in the Light Sport Aircraft category. That designation allows pilots to operate aircraft with a less restrictive Sport Pilot Certificate than the traditional Private Pilot Certificate. The latest MOSAIC rule for LSA also expanded the aircraft types and operational use as well as seating and speed limits, so the AIR One now fits into the category.
The AIR One is designed with a 110-mile range, top cruise speed of 155 mph and one hour of flight time per battery charge. Its “Fly-by-Intent” control system, a variant of fly-by-wire electronic control, makes piloting the aircraft easier and more intuitive, since the system will automatically react to winds and changing flight conditions. The wheels allow both vertical and horizontal takeoff and landing, while the foldable wings make the aircraft as compact as a large SUV for storage in the garage.
The schematic of the two-person eVTOL shows its redundant systems and safety parachute.
AIR
“The continued development of our multi-domain eVTOL aircraft brings us closer to realizing our vision of accessible and efficient air transportation across several applications,” said Plaut. AIR has developed an autonomously piloted craft based on a similar platform as the piloted One. With a 550-pound payload, it is being marketed as an Uncrewed Aircraft System (UAS) to move cargo.
An earlier test prototype.
AIR
Both versions have eight electric motors connected to propellers that, according to AIR, provide safety through redundancy. In July, AIR also announced plans to build a 32,000-square-foot production facility in Israel, with future plans to build a larger facility in the U.S. AIR says it will deliver 15 cargo eVTOLs in the next year, but hasn’t released a certification timeline for the recreational piloted version.
Of course, the real story here isn’t about logistics or moving freight. It’s the promise of weekend pilots taking off from their driveways and climbing into open skies. The AIR One is a larger, more powerful, complicated and expensive aircraft than the Pivotal Helix or Jetson One, which are also aiming at the recreational market. With 2,500 pre-orders, the AIR One could be the aircraft of the first real “Jetsons” generation.
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