{"id":11795,"date":"2018-06-10T18:33:10","date_gmt":"2018-06-11T01:33:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cafe.foundation\/blog\/?p=11795"},"modified":"2018-06-10T18:33:10","modified_gmt":"2018-06-11T01:33:10","slug":"kitty-hawk-flyer-shows-improvements-limits-continue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/cafe.foundation\/blog\/kitty-hawk-flyer-shows-improvements-limits-continue\/","title":{"rendered":"Kitty Hawk Flyer Shows Improvements, Limits Continue"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kitty Hawk Flyer,<\/a> the Larry Page-backed \u201csky taxi,\u201d seems like a great summer escape machine. One can learn to fly it in about an hour, but it will remain low and slow enough to give the thrill of flight without inordinate dangers.\u00a0 That\u2019s the marketing pitch from Kitty Hawk, and it\u2019s not a bad one.\u00a0 Imagine going to a beach or lake with dozens of these fluttering about over the water\u2019s surface.\u00a0 It\u2019s the same kind of lure driving go-karts on a miniature race course has for vacationers.<\/p>\n

Safety is obviously a factor for a machine meant for amateur use.\u00a0 John Lyon explains this in the Robb Report<\/em><\/a>: \u201cThe zero-emissions Flyer is completely powered by electricity, and its propellers all operate independently, meaning that if there is a problem with one or more propellers, the entire vehicle won\u2019t come crashing down. That said, even if it did, the aircraft is only meant for flying over water and only flies between three and ten feet off of the surface, so even a worst-case scenario would only involve a short plop into the water.\u201d<\/p>\n