A year after its first test flight that lasted less than a minute, the Airbus Vahana Flying Taxi was filmed during a more complete flight that shows the transition between vertical takeoff and horizontal flight thanks to its tilting rotors.
Last year at the same time, the aircraft electric vertical takeoff and landing Vahana on its first flight autonomy. A very short- lived experience (53 seconds) that was limited to a take-off five meters above the ground. But A3, the US subsidiary of Airbus that is working on this flying taxi project, has obviously made a lot of progress. The La Dépêche website has published a new video showing the aircraft during a flight of several minutes.
According to our colleagues, the Alpha One prototype has evolved in full autonomy, without a pilot on board. The very interesting part of this demonstration concerns the work of tilting rotors which allow the aircraft to go from a vertical takeoff to a horizontal flight. We can clearly see the transition, which is not yet very fluid.
Airbus conducted a survey on this mode of transport
The test flights will continue and La Dépêche specifies that some will be carried out with passengers on board. Remember that Airbus hopes to have a finalized version for commercial use by 2020. The aircraft manufacturer is not the only one wanting to invest in this new mobility market. We can even say that it jostles at the gate. Last month, Boeing successfully completed the first test flight of his flying taxi. Uber , Bell , the Chinese Ehang , the German Volocopter, Aston Martin or the engine maker Rolls-Royce also have similar projects. And this list is not exhaustive.
To gauge the state of mind of the public regarding this new mode of transport, Airbus conducted a survey of 1,540 people living in Switzerland, New Zealand, Los Angeles and Mexico City. And the least we can say is that there is still a lot of evangelization work to be done. In New Zealand, only 27% of respondents say they are ready to use a flying taxi service. They are 32% in Switzerland, 42% in Los Angeles and 67% in Mexico City. The safety of people on the ground, noise and altitude are among the main sources of concern.