Dream of owning a flying car? This California company is already selling them
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A future with flying cars is no longer science fiction — all you need to order your own is about $200,000 and some hope and patience.The Palo Alto-based company Pivotal has been developing the technology since 2009 and is nearly ready to bring it to market.The company’s founder Marcus Leng was the first to fly in its real-life version of a flying car in 2011.Leng engineered an ultralight, electric-powered vertical takeoff and landing aircraft known as an eVTOL.
Other VTOL aircraft, such as helicopters, had existed for decades, but Leng’s invention was fixed-wing and didn’t rely on gas.Business The hunt is on for flying taxi landing sites.The Canadian engineer dubbed his creation BlackFly and spent years working on it in secret.
The company moved to the Bay Area in 2014 and by 2018 had developed a second version of BlackFly that laid the groundwork for Helix, the aircraft Pivotal now offers for sale.“The company kind of came out of stealth at that point and said, ‘This is what we’re up to,’ ” said Pivotal Chief Executive Ken Karklin, who took over company leadership from Leng in 2022.
Those who are curious — and wealthy — can reserve a Helix today with a $50,000 deposit.The aircraft starts at $190,000 with the option of purchasing a transport trailer for $21,000 and a charger for $1,100.
A customer who makes their reservation today could receive their aircraft in nine to 12 months, Karklin said.It takes less than two weeks to learn how to fly it.In order to complete Pivotal’s flight certification training, a customer has to pass the FAA knowledge test and complete ground school.
Training, which takes place at the company’s Palo Alto headquarters and at the Monterey Bay Academy Airport, teaches customers how to control and maintain the aircraft, as well as how to transport and assemble it.Pivotal, formerly known as Opener, publicly introduced the Blac...