Soon there will be a personal craft that can take off and land vertically. It will be electric and seat two people, and is the starting point for what is hoped will be a generation of environmentally friendly and quiet planes. CEO Daniel Wiegand wants the plane to be suitable for daily use as an airport is not needed.
Lilium – the company involved – has been in business since February 2015 and consists of 4 doctoral students and engineers who are based at the University of Munich. 25kg prototypes have been successful, and a next step is a full-size plane.
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If the aircraft works, it will join other forms of public aviation, but without the need to travel to a distant airport. Noise will not be a problem, and a runway is not necessary. There will be the benefit of a helicopter and none of the problems. If a back garden is big enough to hold the craft, then that is the place that will be used for take-off and landing. It will only need to be 15m x 15m. It will be safer than a helicopter and much more quite due to the fact that it is electric.
The official classification will be Light Sports Aircraft for use by two and to fly the plane; the pilot needs to be at least 20 hours trained. There are some limitations as it is expected to be used for leisure flights when the weather is good and flying at 3km altitude in clear skies.
