We have no idea why developers Opener gave their flying human drone that particular name. When we last looked, a black fly is a brand of gnat, and oh boy can they sting. Then we realized that black flies are adept at flying in the sky, and are common in Canada where Opener has been testing.
Let’s Dream of Flying in the Sky with BlackFly
BlackFly prefers taking off from and landing in grassy fields, because it does a belly flop not using wheels. Once in the air, CEO Marcus Leng says it can do 25 miles at 62 mph on batteries driving eight propellers. However, it is more like a ‘human drone’ than a flying car and it is not designed to drive on roads.
The vehicle, for want of a better name, could eventually cost the same as a typical sports utility. However, these are early days for the flying one-person cockpit, hence the reference to the human drone. BlackFly can operate in autonomous mode, although it is obviously more fun when flying freely in the sky by hand.
“You have total command of three-dimensional space,” Marcus Leng told CBS News. “When you press the thumb-stick to climb, you have absolute full control. When you stop in the middle of the air and go off the joystick, the aircraft freezes. And when I say freezes… it literally freezes in the air.”
One Prototype of Many, but Could it Crash?
The BBC interviewed Willie Turner from the Hiller Aviation Museum, AKA a ‘graveyard of failed attempts to create a flying car’. When asked if BlackFly could crash, Turner said, “Probably, but cars crash every day. You know it’s not going to be fool proof but it will be much better than the current system we have now.”
BlackFly does not require a California pilot’s license – where it will become available first – before launching and flying in the sky. However, we understand ‘riders’ would have to undergo a training program in order to become acquainted ‘as a precaution’. We wish them all the best with their bold step, and look forward to trying it sometime.
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