• finalarbiter@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    27
    ·
    edit-2
    6 days ago

    Buyers don’t need a pilot’s license to operate the aircraft, though they must complete training and take an FAA knowledge test.

    That’s absolutely fucking insane. How did the FAA approve this? The only saving grace here is that the $200k price tag means few, if any, will be sold to random idiots who want a flying car.

    • cmnybo@discuss.tchncs.de
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      20
      ·
      6 days ago

      It’s an ultralight. You don’t need a pilots license to fly one in the US. You can even build one yourself if you want to. You don’t even need any inspection or airworthiness certificate. Since they can’t legally be flown over populated areas, it’s unlikely for anyone except the pilot to get injured or killed.

    • sic_semper_tyrannis@lemmy.today
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      10
      ·
      6 days ago

      There are lots of fairly standard high end cars that go for more money than that. So the potential is quite high for these to sell well

      • AbidanYre@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        edit-2
        4 days ago

        A high end luxury car has a lot more utility than this thing. This is more like a $200k atv or snowmobile (ie, a very expensive toy)

        • sic_semper_tyrannis@lemmy.today
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          19 hours ago

          That seems to make sense and maybe most people will think that and this will stay niche. However I can see a legitimate use case of skipping traffic in a large city which gives significant utility. Also many people own expensive toys like toyhaulers and Canam Mavericks which come out over $200k in total. What I’m saying is I really won’t be surprised if these get incredibly popular.

    • theherk@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      6 days ago

      It also means the people operating them will have a high threshold for consequences and maybe not care so much about the community.