Personal planes that can take off silently from behind your house could be on the market within two years.
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| Lilium Aviation, a company based in Gilching, Germany, is designing a two-seater electric plane that takes just 20 hours to learn to fly and can travel at speeds of more than 250mph. The tiny aircraft, weighing just 25kg, can take off vertically without a runway and can be parked outside a house or in a garden. The company says the design opens the door to a new class of aircraft that is simpler, quieter and more environmentally friendly. The plane is due to hit the market in 2018. |
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| "Our goal is to develop an aircraft for everyday use. We are building an aircraft that can take off and land vertically and does not require complex and expensive airport infrastructure. To reduce noise and pollution, we are using electric motors and the aircraft can operate in areas close to inner cities," said Daniel Wiegand, president and co-founder of Lilium Aviation. |
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| Lilium Aviation was founded in February 2015 by four aeronautical engineers from the Technical University of Munich in Germany. The company aims to solve the problem of personal aviation, as passengers often spend more time getting to the airport than the flight itself. |
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| Helicopters offered an alternative, but they were noisy, difficult to fly, and required licensing. They also couldn’t operate if their rotors failed, making them very expensive to build and maintain. Although initially limited to airports, Lilium could take off vertically from almost anywhere, even from a backyard, requiring only a flat, open area of 15m x 15m. |
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| Although it takes off and lands like a helicopter by spinning its engines, Lilium operates more like an efficient airplane, reaching speeds of up to 400 km/h. And because it runs entirely on electricity, it is much quieter than a helicopter when taking off. |
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| The Lilium is classified as a two-passenger Light Sport Aircraft. Pilots only need to complete a maximum of 20 hours of training to obtain a pilot’s license, similar to a driver’s license. The aircraft is intended for recreational flying during the day, in good weather conditions and in uncongested airspace at altitudes of less than three kilometers. |
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| Flying in urban areas requires following the instructions of air traffic control. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) also sets up flight paths throughout the city, which are like air routes for pilots to follow. They are only allowed to deviate to the right of the route to avoid other planes. See also: Plane circumnavigates the world without fuel. |
According to VNE
