Why in the world put props where they can injure people? One of the best parts of a ducted fan design with the props up high is the elimination of the dangerous tail rotor...

Boeing likely sees the investor money thrown at all these VTOL startups and is under pressure to do it too. Not all prototypes prove you are on the right path. Some of them just demonstrate you are not.

I’m extremely disappointed that Opener’s Blackfly hasn’t really done any press outreach in about 6 months. That particular design really amazes me kore than most other vtol aircraft (electric or traditional) I’ve seen to date.

@guzmanchinky "Why in the world put props where they can injure people?"
Because thats how it's been done since the dawn of aviation, every prop aircraft in existence have a propeller that can injure people, and people learned to understand to simply not be near it when it's active.
I do like the Airbus air taxi/caryall concept complete with electric (pod) vehicle that are dropped of at your destination, it looks very sleek too.

@guzmanchinky I agree with you. Besides this position is also aerodynamically wrong, less efficient than when they are mounted higher.

Looks like a Vari Easy with a couple extra props.

I've seen so many silly versions even like this by big aerospace firms that should know better. For 50 mile range 2 simple counter rotating rotors without collective, etc controlled gyrocopter style is far more efficient, carry a bigger load at 40% of the cost of this fiasco.

To Minivini Most of these revolutionary craft that we all want in our garage will in all probability never materialize. A year and a half ago I paid $100 to be on an advanced availability list for the Kittyhawk Flyer after their grand debut video in the Summer of '17. Over a year later they had dramatically redesigned the craft so that it was completely unrecognizable to the prototype, and I never received any info or even pricing information. Initially the craft was slated to be available in 2018! To their credit however they did refund my $ after I complained.

I've always been puzzled about something: Why hasn't any manufacturer taken advantage of aspects of both turbines and electric motors. Seems like you accomplish the goal of burning far less fuel to be airborne by using a small turbine to charge batteries as needed, and putting lightweight electric motors wherever they need to be mounted to increase their efficiency. Run the fuel engine long enough to top off the batts, shut down when not needed, and restart when a certain charging threshold is reached. Make it a plug-in hybrid. What am I missing?

@Steven Livingston I believe some teams are using fuel powered generators to power electric motors rather than batteries. Batteries are much lower energy density than fuel so they are a huge problem for flight application. VTOL's are less efficient than cars and fixed win aircraft so it is an application where energy density is critical. Without a massive breakthrough in battery technology every team doing this is sitting at the same fundamental dead end. They are doing the R&D in case that breakthrough happens but there is very high probability electric VTOL's never get off the ground.