It’s not science fiction anymore. Technology has caught up with The Jetsons and a personal aircraft is within reach.
Check out the BlackFly, an electric flyer that the inventor says will be on the market next year!
There are laws that prevent airplanes from just flying around willy-nilly. You need a pilot’s license, you need clearance to go from point A to B and you need a place to land.
The Blackfly qualifies as am ultralight, which means you don’t need a license, you can fly up to 25 miles but you can’t fly over urban areas. Can you imagine having this to fly to work and back?
- Are there laws to prevent you from speeding in an ultralight? Yes 63 miles an hour. Why such and odd number? Airspeed is measured in knots (nautical miles per hour) and is set at 55 which equals 63 regular miles per hour.
- Do you need a license to fly an ultralight? No – Operators of ultralight vehicles are not required to meet any aeronautical knowledge, age, or experience requirements or to have airman or medical certificates.
- Do you need to register it and pay taxes? No – Ultralight vehicles are not required to be registered or to have registration markings.
- Do it have to pass inspections? – No Ultralight vehicles and their component parts and equipment are not required to meet the airworthiness certification standards specified for aircraft or to have certificates of airworthiness.
- Will people be lining up buy these when they come on the market? Maybe – The fact that you can’t fly over urban areas will put a damper on the number of them that are purchased, especially since the people who could most afford and would most likely benefit from using it live in cities.
How are the police going to deal with these vehicles? They can’t fly, how can they pull you over? They don’t need registration or a driver’s license, what will the cops ask for if they do manage to somehow stop you?
It’s going to be interesting to see how police agencies across the country deal with these vehicles over the next decade!