The race to create the craziest flying taxi seems to never end. And while in Korea and Germany they are leading the way in this futuristic sector, in Africa there are also very interesting proposals.
The African company Phractyl has shown a concept different from anything we have seen before within the eVOTL (electric aerial vehicles capable of taking off and landing vertically), and its objective is to be a real option for transporting people within the African continent.
Africa, Phractyl explains, is in a rather unique situation when it comes to eVTOL, as it has very little ground transportation infrastructure.
So planes that can take off and land vertically, without the need for runways or heliports, they could have a much greater impact than reducing travel times.
From this need was born the Phractyl company, which understood that while eVTOLs were an ideal solution to endemic African problems, your continent would need models that were truly adapted to the environment.
To solve this problem, The company decided that the best thing was to look at the animals that had triumphed in their land: the birds. Although the thing then went away from mother, since Phractyl’s flying taxi has bird wings, bird feet and caterpillars instead of claws.
Does the latter make sense? Surely yes, as the tracks provide off-road capability that the wheels cannot.
This initial design is intended for one person only. It claims to have a range of 150 km, carry a maximum payload of 150 kg, and travel at speeds of up to 180 km / h.
According to Phractyl, could be piloted or remotely controlled and carry a passenger or cargo, as appropriate at all times.
At this time also a larger version is planned, type air taxi where several occupants can fit in addition to the pilot.
Phractyl says that the first applications could be recreational flights, medical services, cargo missions, infrastructure inspection and even crop spraying.
As for the progress, well, apart from these renders and a small carved wooden modelThe team has been working on some home tests for their powertrain prototypes.
The real work, that of seeking funding and making the project a reality, has not yet begun, so this whole idea remains unfinished or, who knows, the same in 10 years we look at the sky and see dozens of flying taxis looking like a bird.