Boyd, John. “Japan on Track to Introduce Flying Taxi Services in 2023.” IEEE Spectrum: Technology, Engineering, and Science News, 4 Sept. 2020, 16:00 GMT, spectrum.ieee.org/cars-that-think/aerospace/aviation/japan-on-track-to-introduce-flying-taxi-services-in-2023.
Article title:
Japan on Track to Introduce Flying Taxi Services in 2023
Photo: SkyDrive
My summary of article:
Japanese start-up company SkyDrive Inc. successfully tested their single-seat Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing (eVTOL), SD-03 – SkyDrive third generation. This 400 kg flying machine is 4 meters in length and width and 2 meters in height, and is manufactured with relatively light materials such as carbon fiber and aluminium for balance and flight durability. SD-03 operates by using four pairs of electric coaxial rotors with one on each quadrant of the body, enabling 5~10 minutes flight time with maximum 50 kilometers per hour. Sky Drive's chief technology officer, Nobuo Kishi, mentions that the two propellers on each quadrant have opposite rotation directions in order to cancel out propeller torque. Another attribute of SD-03 is that its small design reduces required landing space to about two cars width.
Kishi, however, refused to provide more details about SD-03, since it is a trade secret that may be adapted by a competitor company. Tomohiro Fukuzawa, CEO of SkyDrive, suggests that SkyDrive is only a few of as many as 100 flying car projects that have succeeded in its test drive with an actual person on board. He also believed that although Japan is behind other countries in the aviation industry, due to their excel in manufacturing cars, Japan will be able to compete with American, European, and Chinese companies in developing eVTOLs.
Fukuzawa is anticipating 2023 as the year to launch their flying taxi services, focusing on remote (hard to reach) or popular tourist locations.
My response to the article:
The article was very intriguing, since I had thought that developing flying cars for pragmatic use would be possible in not very far into the future, but rather in the reasonably close but still far future of about 20~30 years. In fact, developing commercial flying automobiles was and is one of the many things I want to make if I do start my own startup business. After all, it is humanity's one more step in achieving what seemed impossible through science and engineering. I am looking forward to SkyDrive's progress, and if they become prevalent methods of medium distance travel, I will not hesitate to purchase one for myself.
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