We've called attention to several flying taxi ventures in these pages, and now, giant Boeing is in the game. The company's Passenger Air Vehicle prototype made its first test flight in January.
The vertical takeoff and landing craft is a combination of a scaled-up drone and a pusher plane, with multiple horizontal propellers providing vertical flight. Forward flight is accomplished by a single large propeller in the back of the craft. Shortened wings allow it to take advantage of winged flight so it doesn't have to rely on the horizontal propellers to stay aloft at speed.
Boeing tested the craft in autonomous mode, without a pilot — the electric prototype is designed for fully autonomous flight and has a range of up to 50 miles.
"The prototype completed a controlled takeoff, hover and landing during the flight, which tested the vehicle's autonomous functions and ground control systems," the company said.
"Future flights will test forward, wing-borne flight, as well as the transition phase between vertical and forward-flight modes."
So where does Boeing's prototype fit in when it comes to an actual business plan? Investors are telling themselves the rooftop urban air taxi market — still mostly on the drawing board and in the dreams of Silicon Valley tycoons — is just around the corner. If that's true, Boeing wants a piece of the action.
Chief Technology Officer Greg Hyslop said: "In one year, we have progressed from a conceptual design to a flying prototype."
