You’ve seen something like this before….although that time, it was animated and contained the Jetson family.
"We've gotten that a lot," said Sabrina Alesna, a flight instructor from Pivotal, the company that developed and built this flying vehicle.
"People do say that sometimes it looks like a flying car, but we are completely unique. It's something new."
At Camarillo Airport, the future is now, as this fully electric single-seat flying vehicle is being fully assembled ahead of showcasing its capabilities in the air to the public on Saturday.
Two wings are attached to the front and back of the fuselage, which is like "flying in a bubble," said Alesna. Each wing has four propeller blades and offers a unique take-off and landing experience.
"One thing that's unique about our aircraft compared to other eVTOL vehicles is that our props, while they rotate, don't pitch forward; they have a fixed pitch. Because of that, we take off completely vertically and we have a tilted landing. So when the aircraft takes off, it pitches back about 90 degrees, and then from there we can climb and transition to a cruise mode," explained Alesna. "And we have eight propellers, the ones in the front. They both spin away from you, from where the pilot is sitting, and then the propellers behind you, they spin towards you."
The vehicle is electric, weighs under 350 pounds, and flies over 60mph.
"The batteries are actually all contained in the wings. So we use lithium batteries, and that gives us about 20 minutes of flight time. We are limited due to battery technology, but of course, as that technology improves, so will our design," she said.
"The aircraft is very easy to fly," said Alesna, and, surprisingly, doesn't require a pilot's license.
What can they be used for? Alesna noted that while it might not be suitable for a commute, they're used by potential buyers who want to do point-to-point flights, like to the farmer's market, or to their friend's house, or just somewhere that they need to get to."
"One legal limit of our aircraft, because it is an ultralight, is that you are not allowed to fly over populated areas. This is not something that you would want to use to fly over New York City. But rather fly down a rural street of your neighborhood or fly over the mountains or over your property."
It doesn’t have landing gear and doesn’t need a runway, so they believe the Pivotal Helix can bring a vision of the future into the reality of the present…for those who can afford the $200K plus price tag.
