Ultralight Donation – Plan D - Part 2

Pat & Dennis Bender Experimental-Aircraft Development Fund

 

J. Dennis Bender

Office, Home & Cell Phone: 859-391-5226

5726 La Jolla Blvd. – Suite 311

La Jolla, CA 92037-7345

&

Office - 100 Riverside Pl. - Suite 303

Covington, KY 41011-5711

 

We support the development of improved diagnostic methods for the early detection and diagnosis of MCI, Alzheimer’s, vascular and other dementias, forecasting their likely prognosis, and best treatment options. We focus on the development of Bayesian-based, medical-decision-support systems, comparative-effectiveness research, and the better utilization of these for the above. (After incorporating in KY as a 501(c)3 in 2002, I dissolved that entity in favor of a simplified form of two entirely self-financed, private philanthropies utilizing a Vanguard Charitable Trust for making annual-research-grants for early-dementia-detection and its correct differential-diagnosis and likely-prognosis. They will continue on, after I am long gone, either mentally or physically, with annual $1M grants. Scripps Foundation, Profs. Randall Bateman, James Brewer, eVTOL group and others will be our fund’s future research grant advisors. KMK Law is my legal advisor, David Bender my healthcare-proxy, Elizabeth Dunn my Estate Executor, Zrinko Modrusan my Systems Administrator, Eric Wohl my website administrator and John Jabro & ChatGPT4o my Assistants.

 (See: https://www.alz.org/alzheimers-dementia/research_progress/earlier-diagnosis)

 

 [email protected]

www.JDBender.com – EMS/eVTOL & Educational Experimental Aviation Fund (Vanguard Charitable Trust)

www.JDBender.org – Dementia Diagnosis Fund (Vanguard Charitable Trust)

 

March 20, 2025

Here is where we stand today after the now total failure of my RYSE-Recon project and still looking for that next viable project, perhaps the Air Scooter by Zapata or the ________ ?

 

Here the next-step appears to be to attach this to a detachable-wing.

 

Xpeng-X2 Vs. Jetson-One [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taNLMy17YBI&ab_channel=TechCEO &

https://evtol.news/xpeng-voyager-x2#:~:text=The%20price%20range%20for%20the,expected%20to%20occur%20in%202024 & https://www.aeroht.com/article/article?id=143 ]

 

Pat & I greatly enjoyed our past extensive vacation travels in China, Japan & Indonesia. I still follow this region’s progress with their flying-car concepts but remain skeptical. This Xpeng-X2 appears to be a viable contender but, like all the others, always appears to be “just a couple of years off.”  However, they raised $834M from Chinese banks, plus an agreement with a consortium of investors to raise over US$500 million for its Series-A capital funding. That funding round was led by IDG Capital, 5Y Capital, and XPENG Inc. with participation by a consortium of US investors, including Sequoia China, Eastern Bell Capital, GGV Capital, GL Ventures, and Yunfeng Capital. Here is a recent update.

 

Xpeng Aeroht Inaugurates Flying-Car Ground Comprehensive Testing Center

From XPENG AEROHT 2023-09-16 - Foshan, China

 

Asia's leading flying-car innovator, celebrated a significant milestone today with the inauguration of its Flying-car Ground Comprehensive Testing Center in Foshan, China. The center, spanning 58,000-meters², will focus on research and validation of new flying-car technologies, technical-standards development, and ground-testing for the complete vehicle and system-level attributes.

 

Mr. Shuo Chen, head of the Testing Center, explained, "This center will conduct comprehensive ground tests, including strength, load, vibration, durability, environmental factors, and materials. It will support product validation from virtual simulation to real-world testing."

 

Xpeng Aeroht, established in 2020, has its R&D headquarters in Guangzhou and operates 4 major testing bases:

• Seagull Island Flight Base: Focused on validation flights, durability tests, and certification flights.

• R&D Flight Test Center: Primarily dedicated to prototype flight testing.

• Powertrain Experiment Center: Specialized in testing electric motors, batteries, and high-voltage electrical components.

• Ground Comprehensive Testing Center: The latest addition, designed to cover all aspects of research and development for flying-car flight process.

Mr. Zhao Deli, Founder and President of Xpeng Aeroht, expressed his enthusiasm, stating, "The completion of the testing-center in just 4-months will provide us with valuable time for the R&D of the next-generation flying-car, which is currently in a crucial research-and-development phase. XPENG AEROHT's pioneering testing and flight-system will continue to play a core-role, assisting us in achieving mass-production in the next 2-3 years." [These things seem to always be “coming in the next 2-3 years,” as they have been now for the past-decade that I’ve been closely following their development and building my fund to help with getting them off-the-ground!]

Xpeng Aeroht's Flying-Car Ground Comprehensive Testing Center underscores its commitment to innovation in the flying-car industry, furthering its vision of reshaping the future of mobility through advanced technology and rigorous testing.

About XPENG AEROHT Xpeng Aeroht, an affiliate of Xpeng, is the largest flying-car company in Asia. Integrating intelligent vehicles and modern aviation, we are dedicated to producing the safest intelligent electric flying-car for individual users. In the future, we will provide products and solutions in the field of 3D transportation.

 

Established in 2013, the company has accumulated 15,000 safe manned-flights. It has won multiple industrial-design awards including the Red Dot Award, IF Award, and IDEA Design Award.

Xpeng Aeroht raised over US$500-million for its Series-A capital funding on October 19, 2021. The funding round is led by IDG Capital, 5Y Capital and XPeng Inc. with participation by a consortium of renowned investors, including Sequoia China, Eastern Bell Capital, GGV Capital, GL Ventures and Yunfeng Capital.  [Address: No.318, Building C, Beiting Square, Higher Education Mega Center, Wai Huan West Road, Panyu District, Guangzhou Phone: 020-66806680 - Email: [email protected]]

 

EAA Foundation Ultralight-eVTOL Donation Possibility

 

For those not familiar with the EAA’s Young Eagles program, here is some background information. This proposal goes beyond their current EAA activities at Brown Field in San Diego and could be a follow-up to those with a developing interest in aviation. It would constitute a new intermediate step between an introductory-flight-experience and starting private-pilot training. The idea is to give a real-life, hands-on, flying-experience versus the current static video-game type simulators seen in museums, such as at the Air Force Museum in Dayton, OH, that I just visited to take a look at their simulator setup and other facilities.

 

Young Eagles EAA’s Young Eagles is a program created by the US Experimental Aircraft Association designed to give young-adults between the ages of 8-to-17 and adults an opportunity to experience flight in a general-aviation-aircraft while educating them about aviation.

 

Going beyond just giving introductory EAA’s Young-Eagles flights, my idea is to offer those with an interest in aviation and who might be interested, a one-hour of ground-school in a simulator followed by a number of actual flight experiences in an eVTOL-ultralight-simulator and then actual flying time in a geofenced-area before moving on to the large investment in time and expense required for private-pilot training. This is what I’m trying to test-market in San Diego, Oshkosh, Cincinnati, Arizona, or elsewhere for a first test-market regarding this intermediate-step.

 

I contacted the local FAA District Office (858-502-9882) in San Diego regarding what is possible within that area and asked for their suggestions. (Gillespie Field https://www.sandiegocounty.gov/dpw/airports/gillespie.html )

 

Nearly a half-decade ago, the LIFT-Hexa people were trying to push me into a $250,000 “franchise-option” when I investigated them with a trip down to Austin, Texas. Unfortunately, they turned out to be literally a ‘fly-by-night’ operation that is still trying to sell those same 25 franchises now a half-decade later, after previously selling $250-rides at those then and still largely non-existent 25 franchises to 15,000+ folks over the past few years and not yet delivering even the first such $250-ride, which they still owe me! They are now asking $495,000 for those same “franchises!” (A fund-raising scheme just like my paying $250 for my Tesla Cyberbeast order position and then finding out that they reportedly had “a million such orders” ahead of my own order-position, so I eventually cancelled it. Let’s hope there is finally something concrete now that they have finally produced a dozen-or-so of those long-ago promised, but still not delivered, ultralight-eVTOLs.)

 

I earlier tried to order a Jetson-ONE, being in the 265^th delivery-position, at that time, but their current order-delivery-positions now stretch into 2025 after many, many, delays in beginning actual fabrication of them, at least the last time I checked. Now, I’m hearing about an apparent current problem with their Chinese electric-motors that “were not performing up-to-spec,” according to rumors. They had invited their original set of early purchasers to visit them (Sweden or Italy?) for personal demo-flights only to be told that they could not provide those promised demo-flights, only to see their single old prototype fly. (Boy, I bet they were pissed! I certainly would have been, just as I was when I traveled two-days down to Austin only to discover LIFT-Hexa was a ‘fly-by-night’ operation.)

 

In reality, these ultralight-eVTOLs are best described as a flying-motorcycles or ATVs, resembling a motorcycle with propellers instead of wheels. They claim that they can reach top-speeds over-60-mph and a cruising-altitude of more than 1,500 feet, though typically operated well below 400’. It's usually all-electric and a single-charge provides around 20-minutes-of-flight-time. These companies promote them as a “formula-one racing-car for the sky" and boast that the controls are easy-to-learn and, as a legal-ultralight, it can be flown without a pilot's-license, but only in class-G air-space and never over crowds of people, only frightened cows or sheep.

 

When I first started looking into this possibility, I ran into EAA insurance and tax problems due to the way I had wanted to purchase it myself and as to whom would hold title to it. I had thought that my proposal would have solved that problem with direct S.D. Air & Space Museum purchasing and holding title-ownership and that I would pay for it with a donation to cover all the associated costs, as I had offered to do.

 

My plan had been to purchase this eVTOL and fund the related expenses with a grant from my already established and fully-funded $17M Vanguard Charitable Trust account with funds transferred directly to the S.D. Air & Space Museum for this purpose, with initially $10,000 to get this project started. Having now transferred $200,000 to that fund for this project, it can only go to a 501(c)3 organization, such as the Air & Space Museum. It being a one-way transfer, it cannot now be rescinded, so it is locked-in for any charitable-organization of my choosing.

 

Technically this is not an “aircraft,” but rather an eVTOL-ultralight, which is legally a different entity, but the liability-risk is likely similar. The insurance issue must have been addressed earlier by LIFT-Hexa Aircraft in the U.S. (https://www.liftaircraft.com/) and others in Europe and Asia, such as Air Scooter by Zapata (https://www.zapata.com/) and by Air-One [https://evtol.news/air-one], as discussed below, who continue to offer their franchises for providing exactly this same sort of experience that I would like to offer, but in a very-different way. Likely, one could have a parent, guardian or an adult-participant sign a liability-waiver for a minor, but I now understand that the Air & Space Museum’s insurer would not permit such an activity regardless, so that option had to be modified.

 

Here Is the Typical LIFT-Hexa Pitch:

 

Before your first flight, you'll sign-a-waiver and watch our orientation and safety videos.

 

Train in the Sim - Before you fly, you'll get comfortable with the basics in our virtual-reality flight-simulator, and then you'll take a skills and knowledge proficiency test.

 

Preflight - Our ground crew will walk you out to your aircraft, assist you with the simple preflight checklist in the LIFT-app on your smartphone, and then get you boarded and buckled-in. As your ground-tech steps away, your heart will start racing as you feel a rush of adrenaline.

 

Flight & Modes - When in Beginner-mode, you will go through an on-screen tutorial - learning maneuvers just like in the simulator. After the tutorial, you will be free to fly around the designated, geofenced flight-area for the remainder of your 8-15-minute flight. Build flight experience and unlock Sport and Group flying-modes.

 

Mission Control - Every second of your flight is monitored by our highly-trained and licensed primary- and secondary-flight-controllers, with whom you'll have radio-communication and who and can take over remote-control of your aircraft at any time, if necessary.

 

We’ve already raised over $18M in funding from VC's, accredited-investors, and U.S. government-grants, and now we've partnered with StartEngine to allow anyone to invest in LIFT. We're creating a future where everyone can fly, and we're excited to offer you this limited time opportunity to join us on this historic journey.

 

They fail to mention fleecing 15,000+ individuals, such as myself 5+years-ago, to pay for as-yet never-delivered $250-rides that they keep touting and continue selling but are still not yet delivering. They still have my $250 with no information as to when and where I can finally receive my prepaid demo-ride! Worse yet, they received $250,000 each from many earlier franchise-investors for those long-ago promised city-franchises, as they propositioned me with those 5+years-ago, and still have not delivered much of anything. Buyer beware!

 

Air Scooter by Zapata – Notice combination of the 2 motor-types – both gas & electric. [https://www.zapata.com/]

 

 

https://evtol.news/zapata-airscooter

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xNFG6T0yEQ&ab_channel=FlightJunkies [Video of their prototype ultralight flying.]

 

Marseille, France - www.zapata.com

Founded in 2008 by Franky Zapata and based in France, Zapata is an innovative company that designs, manufactures and sells water-sport and flying-machines for leisure and adventure-sports. These machines mostly use water-jet-nozzles or micro-turbo-jet-engines for their propulsion. The Company has recently changed its focus on designing and manufacturing hybrid-electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) passenger-aircraft for advanced-air-mobility (AAM). Some of Zapata's top-goals for their VTOL aircraft will be a high-priority placed on safety, making them easy-to-fly, be environmentally-clean and be affordable.

AirScooter: Hybrid-electric VTOL one-passenger multi-copter aircraft that a person sits in. First revealed in June 2023 at the Paris Air Show. [https://evtol.news/zapata-airscooter]

One-Passenger Multicopter Specifications The AirScooter is a futuristic one-passenger easy-to-fly hybrid-electric-VTOL multi-copter aircraft. The cockpit has a slightly-elongated vertical-egg-shaped look with long, high-windows in the front and on both sides of the aircraft. There are 12-propellers located on top of the aircraft on 8-booms with a rear high-boom-tail. The aircraft's cruise-speed is 50 mph, has a maximum-speed of 62 mph and has a claimed flight-time of over-2-hours.

The empty-weight of the aircraft is 247 lbs., has a maximum payload of 264 lbs. and has a maximum takeoff weight of over 511 lbs. The fuel-tank holds 5-gallons. The aircraft has fixed-tricycle-strut landing-gear. The AirScooter prototype was first shown to the public on June 14, 2023, at the 7th annual Viva Technology trade show held in Paris, France.

The AirScooter is an ultralight and expected to first be used for tourist flights The Company has stated the aircraft is compliant with the Federal Aviation Administration's (USA) Part-103-Regulations and can be flown without a pilot's license as an ultralight-aircraft. Zapata has patented computer-assisted fly-by-wire controls which ensure the highest-degree-of-safety while requiring-minimal-training. According to the Company, the AirScooter carbon-footprint is comparable to a passenger-car. The Company estimates the aircraft will first be used for tourist-flights and for leisure-travel. (They are apparently using their own turbine-jet-engine-combo.)

The Zapata AirScooter, an innovative personal eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) aircraft, is making strides in the aviation market. It features a hybrid-electric propulsion system that offers up to two hours of flight-time and a top-speed of 62 mph. This VTOL aircraft is notable for being easy to operate and safe, requiring minimal training thanks to its "fly-by-wire" controls. It's designed to be environmentally-friendly, with a sustainable fuel source that minimizes its carbon-footprint.

The AirScooter is accessible under the Federal Aviation Authority PART-103 Regulations in the USA, meaning it can be flown without a pilot's license as an "ultralight-aircraft." This positions it as a viable choice for personal-aviation, blending advanced technology with user-friendly features for recreational and practical use.

For more detailed information, you can view updates directly on Zapata's official website here.

 

[All images are from Zapata.]

 

Their concept is to sell franchised-airparks with multiple-units operating at each giving rides. They already apparently have arranged for insurance-coverage for their type of application, so it should be possible to do the same at Gillespie Field. For years now, ultralight operators all have had insurance coverage and just have the pilot or parent/guardian sign a hold-harmless agreement, likely limiting their liability to gross-negligence.

 

My revised plan now is to investigate returning to my earlier proposal to offer tethered-flights of just a few feet with large-coil-springs attached to the landing-gear and/or an air-cushion protection underneath at the S.D. Air & Space Museum followed by actual flight experiences out at Gillespie Field in a geo-fenced-area. Tethering would make it nearly impossible to tip-over, or long-poles could be attached to the under-carriage just as the current Moog people did initially at Lunken in the early-phases before their current daily-tethered-testing going on for a number of years now and as seen in my many photos of them, as below, with no need for such protection.

 

 

 

This was the old two-place hybrid-design located at Lunken Field here in Cincinnati that I was initially involved with until this project was later purchased by Moog. Notice the yellow-tethering arrangement that I am suggesting for our project and that has worked very-well for them for years now following their initial use of long-poles with weights at the ends in early testing to prevent tipping-over and providing stabilization. A hybrid-power-system makes more-sense than just batteries that limit duration to under 20-minutes, at best, but appear OK for demo-rides and flight-instruction.

 

 

Specifications:

• Aircraft type: Hybrid-electric VTOL passenger multi-copter aircraft
• Piloting: 1 pilot
• Cruise speed: (50 mph)
• Maximum speed: (62 mph)
• Flight time: 2 hours +
• Empty weight: (247 lb)
• Maximum payload: (264 lb)
• Maximum takeoff weight: (511 lb) +
• Propellers: 12 propellers
• Electric motors: 12 electric motors
• Power source: Hybrid-electric power source
• Fuel tank: 18.9 L (5 gallons)
• Fuselage: Carbon fiber composite
• Dimensions: 11’ X 11’ X 8’ (feet)
• Window: 3 long, high windows. 1 in the front of the cockpit and 1 on each side of the cockpit.
• Tail: 1 horizontal-stabilizer tail, very-similar to a high-boom-tail
• Landing-gear: Fixed-tricycle-strut landing-gear
• Safety features: Distributed Electric Propulsion (DEP), provides safety through redundancy for its passengers and/or cargo. DEP means having multiple propellers (or ducted fans) and motors on the aircraft so if one or more propellers (ducted fans) or motors fail, the other working propellers (or ducted fans) and motors can safely land the aircraft. There are also redundancies of critical components in the sub-systems of the aircraft.

 

Company Insights:

• Genobetan Court
• Pitchbook

 

Resources:

• Zapata website
• Zapata Facebook
• Zapata YouTube Channel
• Zapata Instagram
• Zapata LinkedIn
• Franky Zapata Wikipedia
• FlyBoard Wikipedia
• FlyBoard Air Wikipedia
• Article: Franky Zapata’s Real Life Hoverboard Sent Social Media Ablaze. Then the American Military Called, Sharp, July 10, 2017
• Video: FLYBOARD AIR DEMO - MOTO GP LE MANS, Zapata, May 29, 2018
• Video: Flyboard Air in the US desert!, Zapata, Mar. 8, 2019
• Article: Franky Zapata successfully crosses the English Channel on his jet-powered Flyboard Air, New Atlas, Aug. 4, 2019
• Article: Franky Zapata’s Hoverboard, for an Adrenaline-Filled Water Ride, Luxatic, Dec. 13, 2021
• Video: JETRACER®: THE FIRST FLYING-CAR AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC (by ZAPATA COMPANY), Zapata, Aug. 4, 2022
• Article: Flying chair ‘JetRacer’ travels up to 250km/h with 10 micro-turbojets, Design Boom, Aug. 16, 2022
• Article: This Bonkers Jet-Powered Hoverboard Can Fly 10,000 Feet High—at 110 MPH, Robb Report, Jan. 14. 2023
• Video: Airscooter: the world’s most advanced personal flying machine, Zapata, June 14, 2023

 

Most recent video update: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xNFG6T0yEQ&ab_channel=DiscoveredFiles

 

 

 

Air-One [https://evtol.news/air-one]

 

A ‘Better Idea’ from Morty Berger in San Diego

 

These two alternatives were suggested by my EAA associate Morty Berger in San Marcos, CA that I’ve since proceeded with after deciding on donating his old ultralight-eVTOL project to the San Diego Air & Space Museum for ultimate use as a tethered-operation to give a real-flight, visceral-experience, not just a video-game experience.

 

I like both of these as better alternatives to the half-dozen ultralight-eVTOLs I’ve been considering so far. Both of them are apparently actually currently flying and appear to have viable, established organizations behind them. The Blackfly is also said to finally have sold its first unit after a decade of my following them since they first appeared at EAA Oshkosh, as documented in my many photos and emailed reports on them from back then. (I’ve had to discard all my many boxes of file-folders of 60+ annual pages of notes from each of those 48 EAA-Oshkosh annual conventions but, so far, still have retained my PC-files and many, many, photos.)

 

Hey! Look at me. I can fly by myself! No need for useless, expensive, easily-damaged, humans! We and AI will rule the world!

 

 

[EAA Oshkosh 2013]

Unmanned evening flight demonstration at EAA Oshkosh 2023 Convention – Wisk Gen-5 N307XZ at the daily air show. (Video: https://www.eaa.org/videos/6331906082112 )

 

Operating Costs of Various VTOL Aircraft

 

 

eVTOL Background – Now for a little more background on this eVTOL topic. Other than the electrified-power-source, this is certainly not a new concept!

 

https://vtol.org/qr/november-2022

 

Curtiss-Wright X-19 Quad Tilt-Propeller Tri-Service VTOL The Curtiss-Wright X-19 was an experimental V/STOL transport featuring tandem wings with a quad tilt-propeller lift system. Using the propeller radial lift force concept proven by the X-100 demonstrator, Curtiss-Wright designed a 6-passenger civil executive transport, originally designated the X-200. As part of the joint US Army, Navy and Air Force Tri-Service Assault Transport Program, the Air Force funded the conversion of two partially built prototypes to meet Tri-Service requirements.

 

The 44-ft (13.4-m) long fuselage carried a crew of two; it was powered by two Lycoming T55-L-7 turboshafts of 2,650 shp (1,976 kW) each and had four, 13-ft (4-m) diameter tiltable propellers constructed of fiberglass.

 

The aircraft was rolled out on July 23, 1963, and made its first hovering flight on Nov. 20, 1963, although a hard landing resulted in a collapsed landing gear. During the aircraft’s 50th test flight on Aug. 25, 1965, at an altitude of approximately 1,000 ft and an airspeed of 90 kts, a propeller separated from its nacelle and caused an asymmetric-lift condition, which led to one of the first ejections from a VTOL aircraft. Both pilots survived the low-altitude-ejection with minor injuries. [My Uncle Bud Gero, who worked for Goodyear in Akron at the time, received the U.S. Patent for the first enclosed-ejection-pod-type version of this device.]

 

The second X-19 prototype was never completed and is currently stored at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio. The X-19 was the last aircraft ever built by Curtiss-Wright Corporation. [I hope to be able to actually see it at the nearby Wright Pat AF Museum on my next annual visit to their facility. I have somehow missed it to date.]

 

They were back at it frequently out at Lunken Airport here in Cincinnati but still always tethered when I was out there!

 

(Photos taken during one of my many monthly visits with them.)

 

Now back to this current Moog project, still tethered to the ground, that I had been involved with at Lunken Airport for the past 5+years until they recently were purchased by Moog and received a large DoD-grant. Now apparently, they are no longer interested in working with me, ever since then; perhaps because they no longer need any more funding, given their new large Government grant.

 

My Long History of and Much Background Material on Jacumba, an Interesting Old Historic Area in San Diego My interest in ultralights and VTOLs got started while at Case Tech in Cleveland (now CWRU) working on my undergrad engineering-degree, before going to the U. of Michigan for an Engineering MS & MBA in Quant Methods. I was intrigued with ultralights and VTOL back in 1963, just before Pat & I were married and I started working for Procter & Gamble in Cincinnati. I joined the EAA in 1971 following the early development of ultralights and have attended a full-week at EAA Oshkosh for 48 of the past years focused on attending all of their daily seminars and the development of ultralights. I now fly ultralights north of LA and belong to the S.D. EAA Ultralight Assoc. Chapter 114, as well as the EAA Chapter 14 at Brown Field. Little did I guess it would again become an area-of-interest of mine in 2020s!

http://sdua.org/

 

 

I took a number of enjoyable trips out to Jacumba Airport to investigate it as a potential site for this activity. Here is their very interesting history, including its being a famous hot-springs hotel hangout for both Clark Gable and for the Rat-Pack, (for those of us old enough to even know who he was!) The landmark Jacumba Hotel was destroyed by a fire and was torn down in 1991. However, its walls still stand today, and it is being rebuilt, I am told. (Here is my current picture of what is left of it from my most-recent visit. It is said to now being restored again to its former glory.)

 

This desert town itself has an interesting history. Today some 400 people live in Jacumba. What now appears a quiet high-desert retreat was once a thriving spa. In the 1920s and ‘30s the community thrived, its therapeutic hot-springs a mecca for Hollywood celebrities and wealthy Imperial Valley growers. Clark Gable is said to have made Jacumba famous by frequenting its spa.

 

I initially researched this location as a possibility for this eVTOL venture, but gave up on it.

 

Jacumba Airport History & Details

 

Here with my glider-port buddies on a sunny, but windy, afternoon. (Winds no problem for my C8-Corvette, but likely for ultralights and possibly eVTOLs!)

 

 

If I had eVTOL-wings, I could fly with those beautiful sailplanes and other ultralights. I love visiting this location but the constant prevailing winds of 12-15 MPH, at least while I have been visiting, while great for sailplanes are not so much for ultralights, not to mention the 90-minute drive over from my condo in La Jolla’s Bird Rock community. It is just too far for me to consider eVTOL-ultralight operations out there.

 

A border wall now separates us from Mexico, versus the three-strands-of-barbwire that stood there previously [https://www.sandiegocounty.gov/content/sdc/dpw/airports/jacumba.html] for decades.

 

Jacumba Airport History It was acquired from the Federal Government in 1953. The airport is largely unattended and unlighted, except for my associate Roman in his 100’x150’ hangar, pictured here. It is used mainly as an operation area for gliders, especially on weekends. (122.9 & 123.5 for winch-launch operations.)

Flying over, or driving by on Interstate-8, you might miss tiny Jacumba. But soaring enthusiasts know the airport and some might even know where the town is. However, few people know what Jacumba is all about.

On weekends you’ll find sail-planes being tossed-aloft, using that yellow-winch, to catch the thermals, with pilots who savor the solitude and challenge of powerless-flight. During the week the airport is quiet, inhabited only by hawks and their prey. (I’ve taken many sailplane demo flights in Cincinnati, Denver, San Diego County, etc. but, enjoyable as they have always been, never felt motivated enough to obtain a sailplane-license, so I’m still just an FAA-registered Student Pilot at age-83.)

Old U.S. Highway 80 bisects the town which is about 3 miles west of the airport on Old Route 80. There are several quaint western-style shops, including a market and gift-shop. The landmark Jacumba Hotel was destroyed by a fire and was torn down in 1991. Walking through town on a sunny day you get the sense of history. The old buildings, tumbleweeds and dry-air give the imagination room-to-wander, to sense what was. I’ve spent a couple of days out there to explore the town, having previously gotten to know both the airport and Roman, before giving-up on using this location for my eVTOL activities. (Jacumba is located in County of San Diego District 2 - Supervisor Joel Anderson)

Old friends & neighbors Nancy & Curt Koch at San Diego Air & Space Museum’s Legends of Flight – 2015 where Curt was a long-time docent. Loved recently watching F-35 & F/A-18 flight operations off the USS Abraham Lincoln while we were at sea with my old friends Sandy & Kevin who kindly allowed me to sit in his Admiral’s-chair on the 9^th deck during that day’s operations at sea as we watched from ‘vulture’s-row.’

It is easy for an eVTOL-ultralight to allow for its remote-control from the ground by an instructor, in a manner similar to what LIFT Aircraft has been stumbling-around trying to do for the past 5+ years, now finally delivering their first Hexa ultralights, according to press reports, and only now finally beginning to actually produce a few of them. (See: www.JDBender.com LIFT)

 

Another related use-case beyond ultralight-fun applications, is the possibility of converting this or a similar design into a flying-gurney by switching the pilot-seat to a similar setup we had for the 1-or-2 patients on either side of our custom-designed gyrocopter, which had 2-seats for the EMS-tech and pilot (see: Navajo Project Conclusion Updated - Pat & Dennis Bender Experimental-Aircraft Development Fund (jdbender.com)). The current generation of 4-5-place eVTOL air-taxies being the more-likely configuration, but I’m always looking at all possible EMS options and applications.

 

Finally, a third use-case would be for something like RYSE-Recon’s agricultural application, as described below. I’m spent considerable time looking into that application’s feasibility, after they had been demonstrating their prototype ultralight at agricultural trade-shows, such as in Las Vegas, Georgia, Illinois, etc.

 

Technically and legally, an ultralight is not an “aircraft.” It is in a different Part-103 category, thus no requirement for a pilots-license to fly it, nor its being considered an “aircraft” for aviation-related-property-taxes, etc. It is more like a ‘flying-ATV’ for off-road-use-only that doesn’t require a State vehicle-registration and license-plate. In this case, for restricted use only in uncontrolled-air-space (Class-G) with no habitation or population below and not in proximity to any airport, other than for taking-off and landing, with the tower’s permission.

 

The RYSE-Recon seemed to be just like all the other ultralights since 1974, when I began following their development with those past 48 week-long treks to EAA Oshkosh for the annual national get-together to watch their development, with initially mixed-enthusiasm on the part of the EAA. Finally, with their Red Barn setup, they became firmly established at EAA Oshkosh; if only at the far-end of the field, well away from everyone else and the Forums that I attended every day, during those many week-long visits, while staying in the U. of Wisc. dorms each year.

 

Skyports Drone EMS Air-Ambulance Services

 

This has been one of our concepts from the beginning. Now we need some credible organizations to actualize it! Here is one real-life example from http://airbornemotorworks.com/air-ambulance

 

Previous Related Prototype-Projects This harkens back to the early LIFT-Hexa Aircraft (https://www.liftaircraft.com/) days and my wasted week-long trip down to investigate them in Austin, TX and their single prototype aircraft, over half-a-decade-ago. They are only now finally beginning to build their very-first 16+ such aircraft, 5+years after their initial and many later prototypes. (That disaster is recounted in detail on my website (www.JDBender.com.) After taking $250 deposits from 15,000+ enthusiasts, such as myself, plus selling a number of $250,000 franchises for their purported “coming 25-locations” for flying folks with 10-minute, $250-amusement-type-rides “near amusement-parks” (likely with restricted-airspace and ultralight-rules prohibiting any such use, anywhere near such a populated-area as in the proximity of an amusement-park.) Their cost being about the same as current 20-25-minute Robinson-R44 rides at Lunken Airport for $180 that I enjoy giving to EAA Young Eagles and friends interested in aviation and eVTOLs (see: www.JDBender.com Young Eagle.)

 

They are still only now finally producing their first few aircraft, that they promised over 5+years-ago, and will only be providing one mobile-location, versus the promised 25 permanent-locations! What a disaster! They, like the flying-dune-buggy folks I’ve worked with in the past, seem to have turned to the military or a few very-wealthy-folks, as their only viable market-segment. Their currently asking price of $500,000 for a franchise and eventual ownership after 2-years is ridiculous! One can purchase a used Robinson R44-Raven-I for much-less, half in this example (https://www.barnstormers.com/classified-1785815-Robinson-R44-Raven-1.html ), and it’s actually useful for all these applications, with a useful-range, unlike the LIFT-Hexa.

 

Ultralight Background I have been involved with ultralights since their very-beginning in 1975 when I first met John Moody at my annual week-long EAA Oshkosh fly-ins. Now after my 48th annual 10-day-visit there, I’ve switched my focus from ultralights and LSAs to eVTOLs. Having taken dozens of demo-flights in all sorts of aircraft, everything from ultralights, to soaring, to flying a heavy-duty twin-engine Beech. I have now switched my focus to the VTOL organization ( https://vtol.org/) over in Arizona. (Now at 83, I’m rapidly running-out-of-time, so I need to speed-up this current eVTOL-based, youth-introductory-flight-experience and air-ambulance/EMS development effort!)

 

My own most recent ultralight flying was a couple of days flying north of LA, up along the coast in Camarillo, which I always enjoy, [see: http://www.skyriderultralights.com/UntitledFrameset-6.html ], but never enough to have purchase one for myself. As mentioned, I have also sponsored a couple of past EMS-related rotorcraft and flying-dune-buggy-type philanthropic-projects prior to this current one with the S.D. Air & Space Museum.

 

I twice stopped over at the local Kenton County Sheriff’s Office to discuss this possible EMS-application topic with the Kenton County Sheriff Charles L. Korzenborn, the first-time was some 20+years-ago, and even will be trying again now that I’ve return in July. (The Kenton County Sheriff was away from his office both times I last dropped by, so I’ll have to return again for that updated discussion regarding possible Kenton County uses for this interesting new technology. My friend and Covington neighbor is Chair of the CVG Board, so I was also trying to catch her at one of our local HLRC community meetings to discuss possible interest at CVG in flying-taxi service to Covington and on to the Springfield-Beckley vertiport, which I’ve been visiting on numerous occasions to watch its development as a vertiport.)

 

In an early related project, I ended-up working with the DOJ and two rural-police-departments in KY and TX utilizing modified-gyrocopters as less-expensive police-helicopter-alternatives, that they and similar jurisdictions could not afford. (After that one, I ended-up with a still-prized DOJ-lapel-pin.)

My first EMS-related project of this sort was down in Florida and involved the indigenous-people of the Amazon-rainforest. A firm in Florida modified a dune-buggy by adding a parafoil to convert it into a flying-dune-buggy called the Maverick. It is a road-shedding vehicle with the ability to fly over streams and rough territory. Designed for quick transport in hard-to-reach places. Maverick had a top road speed of 100-mph or 40-mph in flight-mode. It had a 400-mile-range on a full-tank-of-gas or 120-miles in the air. A private-pilot-license or sports-pilot-license, with a powered-parachute-rating, was required. Pricing for a Maverick started at $94,000. It was available as an experimental homebuilt, S-LSA, or E-LSA. There were two accidents, in which no lives were lost, involving problems with the design of that parafoil-wing. Due to insufficient resources to re-engineer the parafoil, development of the Maverick was concluded. (See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I-TEC_Maverick)

I then switched to SkyRunner LLC and their SkyRunner MK 3.2 S-LSA $230,000, (https://www.flyskyrunner.com/ ) which we also closely investigated as an alternative with a couple of trips down to their home location in Shreveport, LA and hours of phone conversations with Stewart Hamel. The last time I spoke with him, Stewart seemed more-focused on military-applications than the S-LSA market. At least they are still in business, but “only producing up to 15-units annually” for the commercial market. Obviously a very-limited market for their expensive “adventure-vehicles.” However, they obviously have a lot more functionality than these new man-carrying-drones with only a 20-minute flight-duration.

A later project of mine with the Navajo Nation involved modifying a Golden Butterfly rotorcraft (gyrocopter) that we outfitted with 2-seats, plus adding two covered-litters on either side (See: www.JDBender.com Keyword: ‘Navajo’)

There is something to be learned from these prior experiences. Neither of those prototype-projects were successful in leading to their extended use in EMS, nor related applications. Recently, there have been press-reports of police departments, such as Hamilton County there in Ohio, substituting camera-carrying-drones for their expensive-to-operate police-helicopters. Both a great use-case and are highly successful, they demonstrate that one needs to find a proper match between new-technology, cost-effectiveness and current healthcare and other important societal-needs and that this is indeed possible. You just must get the optimal match-up of needs, technology, human-behavior and costs.

I continue trying to find a viable way to repurpose some of the lower-end experimental-aircraft and eVTOL designs into something with a different purpose; such as for EMS, local-policing, agricultural, forestry-management, border-patrol, EAA Young-Eagles experience, or similar low-altitude missions. (I have established a $17M endowment-fund, eventually likely to be jointly managed by the EAA Foundation and/or S.D. Air & Space Museum and/or the AZ VTOL group to carry on this effort with $100,000 annual R&D-grants, after I am gone, in addition to setting-up this $175,000 eVTOL flight experience at San Diego’s Aviation Museum’s Gillespie Field location.

So far, a couple of my previous attempts in this area of “flying-ATVs” had not proved very successful, at least in the longer-term. Our first prototype flying-dune-buggy project was successful in the Amazon rainforest, for which it was designed, but not so much so in other locations, other than possibly for potential military applications. A later updated-version is currently available for $250,000 but primarily targeted at the DoD and military-market, the usual end of such projects, unlike that defunct RYSE-Recon attempt that was focused on agricultural-applications.

We also modified a rotorcraft (gyrocopter) and converted it into a flying-ambulance which operated perfectly and was demonstrated to the Navajo EMS Director but failed to be seen as being of any real additional EMS help to the Navajo Nation. It was focused on providing more-cost-effective EMS service to their remote locations but it turned-out that they have adequate coverage from other overlapping jurisdictions, such as the State, local-police, and/or US military.

Our early hopes for LIFT Aviation’s Hexa of 5+ years ago have rapidly faded as their only viable non-military use-case appears to be only in selling franchises for providing $250, 15-minute amusement-park-rides, for one-time-experiences, and even that seems questionable. However, they are now finally actually building some aircraft, claiming to have built 16 so far, after all these intervening years. They had shifted their interest to the military-market for a long time, just like Moog’s SureFly-2 (see: www.JDBender.com search “Moog SureFly”) apparently has done.

Returning from our annual SWORFI EAA outing at the beautiful Winemiller Farm here in southern Ohio, I thought more about possible uses, so I drove up to Mason, OH to check-out the now defunct RYSE-Recon project, as discussed above. But first, here is the background on that RYSE-Recon project versus the previous flying-dune-buggy attempts versus a used Robinson R22-Beta-II for comparison purposes, as an existing certified-aircraft alternative.

2005 Robinson R22 Beta-II - TTAF 6058.5 Hobbs 1,691 Overhauled 9/15. No Damage history, 500-hrs./5-yrs. left., Fresh Annual ready for work or personal use. KY197A Com Garmin GNC 250XL.  KT76C XPDR  uAvionic ADS-B out. Very-good condition. $151,000. (Why are these not more popular? Probably because of the high hourly operating cost, high annual maintenance cost, and mostly because helicopters are so difficult to learn how to fly!

Here was the pitch for the Ryse Aero – Recon’s potential use in agriculture as a ‘flying-ATV,’ similar to our previous couple of attempts to develop this same idea of a flying-dune-buggy over the past decades. [See: https://evtol.news/ryse-aero-technologies-recon for details.]

“The test flights were a monumental-step-forward in accomplishing our mission, which is to provide an accessible aircraft to people with a purpose and make flight accessible to all. We proved that this vehicle is reliable, stable, and enjoyable, but most-importantly, it’s safe.”

Ryse had in mind farming/ranching applications, similar to an ATV’s use, literally a flying-ATV such has we have been working on for decades now with our prior 3 similar projects, (as described above.)

To date, our focus has been primarily on Joby, Beta, Moog, or similar-sized, 2-4-place, hybrid electrified-vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) designs first at Lunken Airport here in Cincinnati and now also at the Springfield/Beckley Municipal Airport (SGH) vertiport facility here in SW Ohio.

That nearby Mason-Ohio-based, Ryse Aero Technologies introduced its design for an ultralight-eVTOL aircraft that was “designed for those working in the agriculture-sector or who live in rural-communities.” It too could have been useful for some EMS, policing, or related applications. I was a bit skeptical after our very-negative experiences with LIFT Aircraft’s Hexa over the past 5-years, but at the time it appeared to be a more-viable startup, so I started to purchased one for the S.D. Air & Space Museum, but that was nixed by their insurance company and finally their bankruptcy. Unfortunately, I had gone ahead with ordering one myself and placed a $5,000 deposit with them for donation to the S.D. Air & Space Museum. (See www.JDBender.com for more information on the LIFT-Hexa topic. Search “LIFT”)

Let’s start with a comparison of this ultralight-eVTOL-technology, versus say the option of alternatively utilizing a used 2005 Robinson R22-Beta-II or, better yet, only $62,000 for a used SkyRunner MK 3.2 S-LSA that I was last most-interested in and drove down to Louisiana a couple of times to see it, while it was being developed. (This one is the latest version of the one that I was originally looking at.) That new version is now currently selling, or not, for $250,000. The estimated initial outlay of $150,000 for that defunct eVTOL RYSE-Recon, had been expecting to begin delivering their planned initial production-lot of 100, being about the same purchase cost as a used Robinson R22-Beta-II, but with much-lower operating-costs.

While the initial-cost is similar, the maintenance-requirements and hourly-operating-cost should be very-much-more affordable, plus you wouldn’t need to have an expensive and difficult-to-obtain pilot’s-license, plus the additional training needed to qualify for a helicopter-rating on top of that! (Watching a student helicopter pilot at Sporty’s learning to hover at 10’ while sweating-bullets was enough to convince me, as a forever-student-pilot, not to be too interested in attempting trying it myself!)

The RYSE-Recon had its first-flight demonstrations at multiple agricultural shows with its estimated cost being $150,000, which I had budgeted for my final payment when they actually started producing them, which they never did. Like all the other ultralight eVTOLs, it was claimed to have a flight-duration of only say 20-25-minutes, versus a helicopter’s relatively-unlimited capabilities. This limited flight-duration is the major stumbling-block with all of the battery-only-powered eVTOLs, versus hybrids, such as Moog’s original design that I have been closely following here at Lunken Airfield in Cincinnati for the past few years. (On my last visit to their Hangar #7, I found they had moved on to another location out-of-state.

 

Limited Flight Range Given the problem of a limited-flight-duration of <25-minutes, Ryse’s suggestion is to locate a set of charged-batteries around one’s property and keep them constantly charged-up with a solar-panel, which seemed a plausible idea. Not knowing the likely acreage of a potential buyer, I did a little USDA research. The average Ohio farm is only 46-acres which is likely far too small for this kind of application. Nationally, small-family-farms average 231-acres, large-family-farms average 1,421-acres and the USDA says that the very-large-farm average-acreage is 2,086 so let’s use that figure for an example.

 

 

My friend Bob Burkhardt – EAA Warbirds Squadron 18 – EAA-974 – I have flown with him in his great old WW-II Navion and frequently meet annually over at Winemiller’s farm and also at the EAA-974 Chapter meetings. (I donated a set of my old Corvette C7-Z06 wheels & tires to him for his EAA chapter to raise funds. Should have auctioned them off at our local Corvette Club here in San Diego where the same set of wheels & tires went for $1,200 vs. only $500 for mine in Ohio. Wrong target-market group!)

 

EAA Chapter-974 -  Butler County Ohio Regional Airport KHAO Hanger-T5

 

 

The Winemiller’s family-farm holdings, where we have met annually for SWORFI for the past decade, are around 4,600-acres, I am told, so they are clearly more than large enough to be a possible candidate for utilizing a flying-ATV. (They already have a WW-II T-6 Texan trainer, beautiful grass-strip, and huge hangar. (I’ve done aerobatics in a T-6 with the Shell aero-team and was given a chute for the second-seat, but no instructions on how to actually use it! Just told “not to release the seat-harness before we are inverted and the canopy is fully-opened to bail-out, or we will both go down with the aircraft with me jammed against the canopy and blocking it from opening,” as I well remember being told by the pilot as we were taking off.)

 

I stopped by one of their multiple farming locations, this one with their airstrip. It looks to be about 360-acres, and I spoke with the Winemiller’s tenant about his thoughts regarding the practicality of utilizing such a thing as a ‘flying-ATV.’ He was highly-skeptical, as I was also somewhat skeptical, as well. However, in discussing soil-compaction and similar topics further with RYSE-Recon it became clear that this was not a very-attractive idea.

 

I noted my past work for Procter & Gamble (P&G) on crop-surveys and forest-mensuration using Landsat hyperspectral-imagery and ground-cover mapping from Learjets flying at 60,000-ft. I had two-weeks of Landsat-training at Purdue U. to be able to do this with Landsat’s early remote-sensing data when Landsat-1 first went up. When I queried the tenant-farmer: “How do y’all do periodic crop-surveys,” he just laughed and noted that “they are out in the fields daily and drive all over the place in their ATVs, trucks and tractors so don’t have to do [no damn] ‘periodic-crop-surveys.’” He went on to note that he just “throws-away those mailed periodic crop-surveys.” [All this making me wonder how the USDA and State’s, such as Ohio, adjust for non-response-bias in their surveys.]

 

So much for the USDA’s sophisticated, multi-level, survey-methods that incorporate ground-truth information into their periodic-crop-surveys. I had been studying the current USDA crop-survey-methods that incorporate both satellite-mapping, newest Landsat hyperspectral-sensor-data (versus the original old 4-band-only Landsat-1 sensor data I used), aerial-surveys, multi-level-land-surveys and ground-truth periodic-surveys of farmers (see: https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/Methodology_and_Data_Quality/Advanced_Topics/Yield%20Forecasting%20Program%20of%20NASS.pdf.)

 

You can tell I’m a city-boy from my naïve questions. My own grandfather raised my father and his brother on their tenant-dairy-farm in New Philadelphia, OH, owned by the Reeves Steel Co., and what has today become a housing-development surrounding their classic old white-stone farmhouse. My Uncle got his PhD and became an Ohio Experimental Station and later USDA Regional Director, while my Father graduated from Wooster, with a degree in Chemistry, and became co-owner, as I now am, of the now long-failing West End Lumber Co. in Cleveland, OH. Now reduced to the last of their original 6-locations. (Let me know if you are interested in purchasing my half, cheap!) Maybe we could convert it into a vertiport and use their large shed as a hangar!

 

In 1947, my uncle and his young-family were sent to Israel by the USDA where he and their two-girls, both my age, first lived in a tent in what had just become the new country of Israel. I still remember shopping in Cleveland with my parents for all their needed tenting and camping-supplies before their being shipped off by the USDA to Israel at the end of WW-II to advise the then new nation of Israel on best-farming-practices. Thus, my following lifelong interest in farming, rural-life, and EAA experimental-aviation; as well as my current interests in eVTOL-aviation and delivery of more-cost-effective EMS-services in rural-areas.

 

Another such potential eVTOL-application being the autonomous-delivery of transplant-organs and medical-supplies as is now being done routinely in rural-portions of Africa. My wife and I visited Africa a number of times on vacation where we had the opportunity to meet with Doctors Without Borders in Kenya and travel all over the rest of sub-Sahara Africa, with flight-seeing over Victoria Falls, Mt. Kenya, Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania, etc., plus later trips to Egypt, Jordan and north Africa. I noted that we stayed at the same treetop-hotel in Africa where Queen Elizabeth learned of her father’s death and her becoming Queen. I still vividly remember watching her coronation on B&W-TV all that day. More recently, I spent the day watching her funeral, now live and in glorious-color, on a huge-60”-OLED-screen, with a 7-speaker, surround-sound-system, cranked-up during the musical performances – what a magnificent change for the better since those old B&W-TV days!

 

Say you have that very-large-farm or ranch, sized 2,086-acres (3.26 sq.-mi.) Say this farm is roughly a rectangle 1-mi. x 3.3-mi., that would require, at the very-most, a 6.6 mi. round-trip capability or placing batteries at the other-end of the farm, as was suggested in the attached press-article. You could place a storage-shed-with-solar-panels and a charging-station, plus 6 spare-batteries, 3.3-miles out at the furthest location and keep them fully-charged and constantly-available at both locations, as suggested by RYSE-Recon. (https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/Todays_Reports/reports/fnlo0220.pdf )

 

 

Skyrunner-Mk-3.2

 

Cost of Operation I wondered how would that RYSE-Recon eVTOL-ultralight compare with purchasing say a used Robinson R-22 helicopter or perhaps even the 2016 flying-dune-buggy project that I was involved with (above), “lightly-used,” for $62,000 plus-shipping? [TTAF: 124-hr, mileage-4,158, location-USA, price (negotiable).] Only 124-hours in 6-years! Really! Yes, certainly an expensive-toy!] I had let them know I was possibly interested in purchasing both it and/or their other one but never received any response back.

 

The average utility all-terrain-vehicle (ATV) only costs about $14,000 without that added parafoil. (A Honda Pioneer on the low-end goes for $12,000 and Can-am Defender comes in at the high-end $18,000.) This more-comparable SkyRunner MK 3.2 S-LSA flying-dune-buggy is currently listed new for $230,000 but I know that he only plans to sell say 10 to a few well-healed international-potentates and all the rest to the U.S. Army. It was at that point that I gave-up on him and his long-time project, but considered possibly purchasing a used one, until this new eVTOL technology came along.

 

A parasail-design-flaw led to fatalities that was apparently the killer-issue with the earlier Florida-based-project that I was earlier involved with that led to its being abandoned by its developer in favor of developing unmanned-drones in Africa that have been very-successful and are currently daily actively delivering medical-supplies.

 

What is a realistic annual-total-cost-per-hour estimate that would be fair for an R-22 comparison? I’ve had a lot of difficulty coming up with even a ballpark-estimate due to the great unknown of exactly how many hours annually a farmer/rancher might be flying their RYSE-Recon.

 

I wondered how the RYSE-Recon would compare with a used-R-22 in annual-total-operating-cost considering that their respective initial purchase-costs are about equal? Since the Robertson R-44 seats-4, versus the single-place RYSE-Recon, it is not a contender for this use-case, so I attempted to instead take a look at a used-R-22 hourly and annual-costs for comparison and found as follows.

 

I’m assuming their 2,500-hr. (need to check on that and the $$$-cost-estimate) useful-life of the RYSE-Recon before re-build of the electric-motors and replacement of the batteries, that being the only major maintenance items. For an assumed 450-annual owner-operated-hours, this 5.6-yr. point might be used for comparison with the major-rebuild-point equivalent to an R-22 helicopter.

 

Looking at industry-averages for the hourly-operation-cost of an R-22 based on 9-hours/week or 450-annual-owner-operated-hours, plus $7.00-per-gallon fuel-cost that I last paid for fueling that beautiful Navion, the Robinson R22-Beta-II has total-variable-costs estimated at $160,767 ($357/hr.,) total-fixed-costs of $33,718, for an annual-cost of $194,485. This yields $432-per-hour, but so much depends on that level-of-utilization-assumption. To do a more-realistic and careful comparative-analysis we need to go further than that.

 

Would that current Hobbs at 1,691-hrs.+ “500-hrs./5-yrs. remaining,” for a total of 2,191 hrs. or 438-hrs./yr. for that used R-22 be comparable? If so, then we could assume a useful time to major-overhaul for both of them as being close to nearly the same and worry less about its comparability.

 

Obviously, the R-22 routine-maintenance, 100-hr.-inspections, plus annual-inspection, would be much more expensive. For example: one Robinson-R22 maintenance-cost quote was: 100-Hr.-Inspection $1,200, Annual-inspection $1,300, and 2,200-Hr. overhaul $15,000. (For our assumed 450-annual-owner-operated-hours., then the annual-maintenance would be about $6,700 or $14.89/hr.)

 

I’ll assume another decision-point at say 2,500-Hours and that either one would be used for an identical number of hours over the same intervening time-period. We would also need to consider the additional cost of constructing the remote, solar-powered, recharging-shed with its solar-panel, plus additional 6-or-more spare batteries, with costs amortized over a reasonable useful-life, say 2,500-hrs?

 

Another cost comparison might be with the $180/ride cost of giving my friends similar 20-minute Robinson R-44 helicopter rides with Stratus here at Lunken Airport in Cincinnati, (which I highly recommend.) Everyone seems to enjoy those 20-minute Stratus sightseeing-flights over my Covington condo office, the nearby famous Roebling suspension-bridge, and viewing downtown Cincinnati all-light-up at dusk, that you can watch on their website video, (see: https://www.stratushelicopters.com/tours). I’ve found that 20-minutes is an adequate amount of time for this sort of sightseeing.

 

I’ve spoken with the Lunken Airport Waypoint FBO Manager for his opinion as to what is the hourly-cost is for an R-44 helicopter-pilot and he said “$35-$40/hr.” So, deduct 1/3rd of that or $13 for pilotage, leaving $167 times 3 = $500/hr., which includes downtime and some small-profit, if any, for another way to back-into an hourly-cost-estimate. (This needs more research for comparable helicopter-operating-costs versus eVTOL-operating-costs.)

 

My Aviation Project Background My previous prototype projects have been aimed at light-aircraft-conversions for EMS, police-work, forestry-management, border-patrol, or other possible related-uses, but this agricultural-use is a new one for me. Fortunately, I spent a lot of time with P&G’s Buying Dept. and modeling the soybean-complex, soybean-oil-prices, the pulpwood-complex, and forest-mensuration for managing their millions-of-acres of leased forestlands in Canada and the Southeast US. This got me into remote-sensing data-analysis with Landsat-1 and a two-week-course on that topic at Purdue U. Little did I know that it might eventually prove useful for agriculture-applications with eVTOL-platforms some 50+years later!

 

Weekly row-crop-management with today’s sophisticated soil and plant treatment customized to micro-areas within single-fields concept would seem to fit-right-in. However, it turns out not to be. Unfortunately, this proved not to be practical with soil-sensors that require positioning close to the ground, not useable from an aircraft, I am told. However, it might prove useful for vineyard management instead. One can envision using remote-sensors, attached to these eVTOLs, flying-low over vineyards in the same pre-programmed-patterns followed by today’s self-driving-tractors, such as I’ve seen annually on the Winemiller Farm with their operator (his kids?) looking intently at their cellphones and paying no attention as the tractor navigates itself back-and-forth over the field. This same-type navigation-system can be used in an eVTOL equipped with remote-sensors for analyzing vineyard conditions, etc..

 

So, what about other potential agricultural-related applications?

Agricultural Applications On Sept. 30, 2023 I attended my 11^th annual fly-in at Cincinnati EAA Chapter 174's Annual Southwest Ohio Regional Fly-in (SWORFI) at Winemiller Farm’s beautiful airstrip along with my friend in his Cincinnati Kid, a 1947 Navion in which we enjoyed an hour flying over verdant Ohio corn-and-bean farm-fields nearing harvest.  (The field is located 12 NM from Clermont County Airport (I69), the home of Sporty's and our local EAA Chapter-174.  Coordinates are 39.207N, -84.019W.  Runway 6/24 is beautiful green-turf and 2,800' long.)

 

I thought this a perfect place to visit again to think about potential applications and farm-management issues, prior to my driving up to Mason, OH to check-out that RYSE-Recon technology project aimed at farmers and ranchers, just like the Winemillers; though most are not fortunate enough to own a beautifully-restored WWII T-6 trainer, such as his, plus a collection of other light-aircraft located in his beautiful, spacious hangar. (I’ve done aerobatics in the 2^nd seat of a T-6 Texan, as I mentioned.)

 

The local candidate was this now defunct RYSE-Recon ultralight-eVTOL with their concept of a “flying-ATV” for farming-applications which never made much sense, but I was willing to listen to their arguments for it and even give them a $5,000 deposit on one for an in-depth trial and donation to the S.D. Sir & Space Museum. It ultimately turned into a disaster with the company going bankrupt and taking everyone’s $5,000 deposit that their representative had assured us was being kept in a bank escrow-account, which it was not!

 

However, this argument of eVTOLs practical worth in agriculture is worth taking a look at so I’ve attached these old articles trying to make that case, which they ultimately failed to do and went belly-up in bankruptcy. At least it is an interesting case study.

 

The RYSE Team They claimed to have brought together a team of software, mechanical and aeronautical engineers totaling 150+ years of experience and were claimed to be ready to “take to the skies.”

 

Mick Kowitz, Founder & CEO 30-years experience, 7 companies founded, holds 14-patents and bankrupted this company and made off with all of his customer deposits, including mine.

 

Thaddeus Bort, Chief Software Engineer +15-years experience in flight-control systems, instrumentation layout and safety controls

 

Alan Arkus, VP of Design Engineering +20-years experience in aviation structural design, propulsion systems, battery management

 

Zach Carlton, VP of Aerospace 10-years in aerospace dynamics engineering and model-based flight-control

 

Erik Stephansen, VP of Regulatory [and West Coast test-pilot whom I got to know]

+30-years of aviation experience, aerodynamic design and regulatory agency expertise

 

Robert Royse, VP of Production +30-years of development & production experience including military weapons

 

Kurt Freyberger, CFO +30-years of experience in finance and public accounting including IPO and start-ups

 

Previous News Coverage of RYSE-Recon Ultralight Personal eVTOL

RYSE-Recon Ultralight Personal eVTOL Completes First Piloted Flight

By Evtol | August 25, 2022

Ohio-based startup Ryse Aero Technologies said it has completed multiple piloted flight-tests with its single-seat RYSE-Recon ultralight personal-eVTOL aircraft in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Since its first crewed flight in late June, the Company has tested the aircraft’s flight-control-systems while the Recon completed various maneuvers, including take-off, controlled-hover, forward-flight, pivot-turn, and landing.

“The test flights were a monumental step forward in accomplishing our mission, which is to provide an accessible aircraft to people with a purpose and make flight accessible to all,” said Mick Kowitz, CEO of Ryse Aero Tech. “We proved that this vehicle is reliable, stable, and enjoyable, but most importantly, it’s safe.”

Rather than targeting air-taxi-applications that many eVTOL developers are focused on, Ryse Aero Tech has designed its eVTOL for those working in the agriculture-sector or who live in rural-communities. Designed to fit under existing U.S. Federal Aviation Administration Part-103 regulations for an ultralight-aircraft, the Company said its eVTOL doesn’t require a pilot’s-license to operate.

“This is an amazing accomplishment for our entire team at Ryse Aero Tech,” said Erik Stephansen, Director of Regulatory Affairs and Aeronautics at Ryse Aero Tech, who also piloted the aircraft. “It was effortless and very-enjoyable to fly. I was thrilled at how I could literally hover, take my hands off the controls and the Recon sat there stable and safe.”

With 6 independent propulsion-systems and an independent, removable-batteries, the aircraft is targeting a range of up to 25-miles, and top-speeds of 63-miles-per-hour (55-knots), while flying 400-feet from the ground and carrying a weight of 200-pounds. [Just like me!] The Company is aiming for first-deliveries of its aircraft [now in late 2024.]

Join the Conversation Xin Gou says: August 26, 2022 - The problems of Part-103-eVTOL are: 1. That within the weight and the associated structural-space (yes it matters) limit-of-Part-103-ultralight, it’s extremely-difficult to design an eVTOL meeting the necessary safety-level that operators with very-limited-flying-experiences will feel comfortable to fly; [Not true! We have many successful ultralight designs that have sold well.] 2. Insurance-policy is unclear for Part-103-eVTOL. as there’s a lack of historical data of the aircraft safety and operation, initial insurance-premium may be very-high if underwriters are available at all. 3. It’s unclear if FAA will include battery in the empty-weight of Part-103 electric-aircraft including eVTOL. [It’s perfectly clear that the FAA is currently including the battery-weight as part of empty-weight, instead of at least providing an allowance of the weight of 5-gallons-of-fuel (30#) currently allowed on ultralights. That needs to be fixed!] All considered, the commercial-prospective of Part-103-eVTOL probably wouldn’t be bright. [Ultralights were never designed to be for anything more than fun-flying and they have been and still are very-popular and a commercial-success, as is apparent at the annual fly-in at EAA Oshkosh ever since 1975.]

Mick Kowitz was the President and CEO of RYSE Aero Technologies, LLC. Kowitz was claimed to be an artificial-intelligence communications expert. With over-30-years of software-development and innovation of new technologies related to artificial-intelligence, speech-recognition, natural-language-processing and engineering experience. Pioneer of speech-recognition-technology in coordination with natural-language-processing on mobile-platforms developed with embedded-systems-technology in addition to client-server-implementations and patents in this field. Mr. Kowitz has served as a Board of Director on several companies and has founded and co-founder several companies that have been successfully sold to private-equity-groups or become public-companies worth over-$500-million.

Innovation – The Daily Beast

This Flying-ATV Might Bring Farming into a Cyberpunk Future

It’s a little boring to fly. And that’s actually a good thing.

Tony Ho Tran – Sky High – Deputy Editor, Innovation & Tech - Updated Aug. 22, 2022

It’s easier to operate a flying-ATV than you think—or at least it was for me. That’s not a humblebrag either. It was designed so any idiot like me—who backs-up into his recycling-bin every time he pulls out of the driveway—can jump in and use it.

Making sure I fly without freaking-out, though, was another question entirely.

“Alright, you’re doing great,” the voice of Mick Kowitz, the CEO and Founder of RYSE Aero Technologies, chirped in my ear via a radio-relay in my helmet. “Now just pull back on the left-handle and press-the-button to take-off.”

The machine I was sitting in—dubbed the RECON—is known as an electric-vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) aircraft and it’s Kowitz’s brainchild. While not technically a flying-ATV, it’s pretty damn close. As I pulled back on the handle, 6-battery-powered-propellers whirred to life around me and my seat began to rumble. Images of the new Top Gun movie flashed in my mind’s-eye before a macabre intrusive thought popped into my head: If I stuck out my arm just a little bit, I’d sever my hand entirely from my arm. A shiver ran down my spine as I attempted to bury that mental-image.

I pressed the takeoff-button on the center-console. For a moment, nothing happened. As I was about to tell Mick that something was wrong, though, the motors whirred louder as the RECON lurched sideways. Before I could react, I felt a weight on my chest and my heart jump into my throat as it lifted me off the ground and into the sky.

The Daily Beast’s intrepid reporter tests-out the RECON for himself behind their offices.

Though I was piloting the craft that day, “nervous journalists on field reporting trips” aren’t exactly the target demographic for RYSE. In fact, Kowitz told me that he wanted to put the aircraft into the hands of a much different and unexpected kind of person: farmers and ranchers. Other eVTOL companies like Joby Aviation and Vertical Aerospace have their sights set on private-transportation (think flying-Ubers-and-LIFTs), while others are focused on building the aircrafts for military and defense.

RYSE, on the other hand, is focused on an industry that Kowitz claims has always been on the forefront of innovation and technology—despite public perception otherwise.

“We tend to think of farmers and put them in the bucket of hillbillies, but I picked them for the exact opposite,” Kowitz said. “They’re actually the most innovative users in the world. They’re the first to use fully-autonomous equipment in the market like tractors that run on GPS for the last 20-years. Nobody was doing that. Tesla’s only had autopilot in their cars for 8-years.”

“Then there’s tracking fields and soil, doing high-definition-imaging and topography-analysis—farming’s a very-sophisticated-science,” he added. “These guys are used to using high-tech before everyone else.” [At least some of them, such as the Winemillers.]

The RECON can fly as high as 400 feet AGL and as fast as 63 miles-per-hour and is slated to retail at $150,000.

That’s why Kowitz believes that farmers, ranchers, and other folks in rural-communities can largely benefit from a machine like the RECON. These are people who own hundreds if not thousands of acres of land, farms and fields that need-to-be-regularly-maintained-and-analyzed. If there are animals grazing on it, a farmer might need to be able to get out there quickly to help their livestock in case of emergencies.

Currently, the only way to do that is to walk, drive via a truck or a utility-vehicle, ride-on-a-horse, or—if you have a lot of money—fly in a helicopter or fixed-wing plane. All those options can be an incredible drain on time-and-money, or even pose a direct-threat to the land outright (you don’t want to be driving over your crops).

“Being able to take a vehicle like this can get you out there as-the-crow-flies,” Kowitz said. “If you have broken-down-equipment in the field, you could get there, repair-it, and fly-back.”

He told a story about a rancher in Colorado who had 20,000-acres for cattle. When the season approaches winter, roughly 80% of the herd comes back naturally to “get fed and be close to the ranch.” However, the other 20% remains out in the acreage.

“Every October, he has to send 5 cowboys out-on-horseback to come get those cattle. Those 5-can-only-cover-about-20-miles-a-day because they’re at ground-level,” Kowitz explained. “With this vehicle they can get up above to locate where they’re at and get people more-efficiently where they are. They can save-thousands-of-dollars just using it for location.” [Of course, a camera-drone could do this as well, at a much lower cost.]

“Do I personally want to risk-my-life counting on a few batteries and a drone? I don't know.”

— Bill Seda

Bill Seda will tell you himself that he’s not the most “cutting-edge farmer.” The 61-year-old grows corn and soybeans on 550-acres-of-land on his farm in Tama County, Iowa. He knows a little bit about the RECON, having heard about its upcoming appearance at the Farm Progress Show in Boone, Iowa on August 30. However, he's skeptical about the technology and how useful it could possibly be to him as a farmer—not to mention its price-tag.

“I’m an old school type of farmer,” Seda told me. “Something new in innovation needs to be able to pay-for-itself-in-a-decent-amount-of-time. Some farmers like to have the newest and greatest toys, but if it doesn’t pay you back on your return-on-investment quickly then you lose money.” [Payback-period and rate-of-return were also always a focus at my old companies, P&G, Nielsen, Millward-Brown, MSA, etc.]

He’s the exact type of farmer that RYSE needs to convince that a RECON—which is slated to cost $150,000—is a good investment. To do that, they need to address two of the biggest eVTOL-challenges: battery-life-and-safety (the same hurdles the electric-vehicle-industry faces).

The RECON and its 6-onboard-batteries currently offer about 25-minutes-of-flight on a single-charge, though that can change depending on a variety of factors including the weather, wind, density-altitude, and the user’s-weight. That could become a big problem for a farmer who needs to fly to a location that’s at-least-15-minutes-one-way.

The RECON has a 6 battery-powered-propeller design that Kowitz claims is safer than a helicopter and other eVTOLs on the market.

Kowitz said that this can be solved by stashing another set of fresh batteries in a location near to where you’d be flying, and swapping-them-out for the return-flight.” Still, that requires even more money and time spent purchasing and installing kiosks, [solar-panels,] and batteries throughout one’s land.

And that’s assuming there’s no fear-of-plummeting-out-of-the-sky. It’s safe to assume that the-majority-of-farmers-and-ranchers-don’t-have-previous-piloting-experience. And when you’re messing with an aircraft with 6-unprotected-propellers, intrusive thoughts-of-being-dismembered-limb-from-limb aren’t that crazy. [All conventional aircraft have unguarded props! That’s why they shout “clear!”]

However, Kowitz stressed that RYSE put-user-safety-first when designing the vehicle. Part of it comes by way of the software, which uses AI to help keep the craft flying smoothly by responding to changes in the weather and altitude. Kowitz also said the propellers are even safer than a helicopter’s or other eVTOLs’. “A helicopter has a single-point-of-failure because of its one-rotor,” he said. “We have 6 and we put a lot of effort into building-redundancy to make sure it’s not going to come down and get you hurt.”

Each propeller has a battery to power it, and even if-one-battery-goes-out, Kowitz said that the other batteries would support that propeller to keep it spinning. That way, you don’t just fall-out-of-the-sky if something happens and a rotor-stops-working. [Mixing-up two different failure-modes – battery-failure versus motor/prop-failure.]

The RECON gets around training-requirements needed to get something like a pilot’s-license, because the aircraft falls under the category of “ultralight-aircraft” from the Federal Aviation Administration—anyone can jump into the RECON and start operating it pretty much right away. The Company’s video-tutorials that show the user how to operate the vehicle takes about 45-minutes to watch, said Kowitz. Users are still required to follow FAA regulations on where they can and can’t fly, like over [or near] airports or through cities; and payload-restrictions.

That does mean the rules can be very easily broken, inadvertently or intentionally, for a vehicle flying 400-feet-in-the-air and at 63-miles-per-hour. One dumb decision could cost you your life—and maybe the lives of others.

“Do I personally want to risk-my-life counting on a few batteries and a drone?” Seda asked. “I don’t know.”

“I can tell you from personal-experience: It’s boring.”

— Mick Kowitz, RYSE Aero Tech

I arrived at RYSE’s facility in Cincinnati [actually it is Mason], Ohio on a bright and sunny morning—optimal flying weather—I must have been wearing my nerves on my face, because Kowitz kept reassuring me how safe the machine was. [No mention then of a ballistic-parachute option, with its additional-weight-allowance available for ultralights.]

“I can tell you from personal experience: It’s boring,” he said. “I’m a pilot so I’m used to all the rigamarole of controlling an airplane but with this, it pretty much does all the workload for you. That’s kind of the point of it. It should be like hopping on an ATV, except you have an extra up-down dimension to it.”

Still, my own personal history with potentially dangerous transportation devices kept my anxiety at a fairly-high-level as I prepared for my ride in the RECON. Going through the instructions for how to fly the vehicle across an empty parking lot seemed easy to understand—the only question was would I be able to do it and survive.

After the training, I was given a flight-helmet and we headed toward the lot where the RECON sat. There was a team of engineers for the Company getting it ready. I felt like an Apollo-astronaut heading towards a rocket destined for the moon. As I climbed-in, I found the seat was smaller than I expected. I’m not that tall—just 6’ 1”—and I still struggled to fit my legs all the way in comfortably. The team strapped-me-in before taking their positions about 20-feet-away to watch. I was on my own.

Kowitz helps me settle into the RECON.

I ran through a pre-flight-checklist on the center-console of things I needed to make sure of before I flew: no person or object within 20-feet of the RECON, clear-weather, propellers in working-order, etc. Once I got through it, it was time-to-fly.

Following the prompts on the console and from Kowitz, I pressed a few buttons and pulled back the lever before rising. It felt surreal as the RECON lifted into the air, like I was breaking some law of man and physics and god by doing this. Wind from the propellers whipped around me as I kept stopping myself from white-knuckling the controls completely. Eventually, the vehicle climbed to a whopping 10-or-so-feet-off-the-ground. While it was nowhere near the 400-foot-geofenced-ceiling, it felt like I might as well have been in orbit. [This air-space geofenced-restriction having nothing to do with its being an ultralight, just a safety precaution.]

I tried to imagine what a farmer might think up here, trying to get a good look at her crops or find a lost calf, and I could almost see the value in this vehicle for the agriculture industry. And if RYSE could get farmers to buy into eVTOLs, the greater-public might be more-amenable as well. That’s still a long shot—but it’s possible.

“You’re doing great,” Kowitz said. “Now push-the-right-controller-forward.”

I slowly eased it forward. As I did, the RECON moved slowly as well. I have to admit, it was pretty damn cool. Sure, I wasn’t breaking-the-sound-barrier, but I was piloting an honest-to-god flying-ATV. And I hadn’t died yet. It was awesome.

Eventually, I traveled the length of the parking-lot, and I pulled the left stick back to bring the RECON down. It landed somewhat gracefully, moving to an angle before settling down. Once the propellers stopped whirring, I heard the team cheer and clap for me—which I felt dumb for enjoying.

“How was it?” Kowitz asked after running up to me.

“Awesome,” I said as I climbed out and took off my helmet. “A lot easier than I expected. And you were right. It’s kind of boring.”

He laughed and nodded. “Yup, that’s the whole point.”

Tony Ho Tran, Deputy Editor, Innovation & Tech,  @TonyHoWasHere, [email protected]

Ryse Aero Technologies Lets Farmers Take to the Sky

Startup Has Created Recon, A 6-Rotor Ultralight Providing Stable Flight with Little Training

Willie Vogt | Aug 23, 2022 – Farm Progress

“I’m a technologist by nature, I’m also a private-pilot.”

says Mick Kowitz, Founder and CEO, Ryse Aero Technologies.

If you’ve dreamed of flying over your farm to check-things-out, Ryse Aero Technologies may be the airship you’re looking for. This Ohio-based startup has created a unique machine that can be flown without a pilot’s-license and offers a new way to see a farm or ranch.

He explains that he and a few business-partners started discussing the electric-vertical-takeoff-and-landing market – eVTOL – which is today focused mainly on creating air-taxis. Kowitz and his partners saw a different opportunity: an ultralight-machine that could be flown by anyone.

Kowitz recalls those early discussions of creating an ultralight. He admits as a private-pilot that he has no love of conventional-ultralight-machines, but discussions continued. He recalls early arguments about the idea and his stance that “a good technology doesn’t always make a good business,” [but maybe a great philanthropic venture with the S.D. Air & Space Museum!]

The discussion turned to agriculture and the wide use of all-terrain-vehicles to get to remote-places or travel-around-farms-and-ranches. “An ultralight is generally a sports and recreation class vehicle,” Kowitz says. But then he started looking at how a “sports-and-recreation” ultralight-class machine could be used by a business noting that farms use ATVs and utility-vehicles.

“We started looking at who would be a great early-adopter for this technology,” he says. “I have good friends that are farmers with large farms and they’re like the perfect market for this.” He observes that farmers have long been the first to take on new tech including GPS, automation, and autonomy.

And the idea for a new-kind-of-ultralight was born.

Rise of the Recon When you first see the Recon, and Farm Progress got a look at version-1 of the machine, it’s almost obvious in its design and purpose. It’s a single-rider, 6-blade aerial-vehicle that operates more like a drone or helicopter than a traditional ultralight many have seen. The Company celebrated its first-manned-test-flight of the machine this week (the video with this story includes images from that first-flight), a significant-milestone for the startup.

Powered by 6-electric-motors, the carbon-blade-propellers spin-at-2,000-rpm and when flying it’s not-very-loud. Kowitz is also quick to point-out how easy it is to fly, noting that with as little as 45-minutes-of-training a user can be in the air.

There are safety-systems and the controls for this airship are “drone-like” in the ability-to-hover-and-rotate as easily as a helicopter. A main-screen between two-joysticks is what constitutes the operator-platform.

“We have an artificial-intelligence-system on board, almost like a supercomputer, for controls,” Kowitz says. That AI-system works to keep the machine steady when hovering-even-in-winds-has-high-as-25-mph. As for safety-systems, if a pilot feels they’re in a little trouble, just maneuver to a safe-place to set-down and hit “land-now” and the machine will lower to the ground providing a level-landing.

The 6-electric-rotors use removable-battery-packs that can-be-taken-out-for-charging. “The removable-battery-pack-design makes it easy to charge, but it also means in the future if there are new-battery-technologies they could be added with upgraded-packs,” Kowitz says. [Yet another hope for better future battery-technology.]

In addition, those removable-packs can boost-range. The machine will run for about 25-minutes-on-a-charge. With it’s top-speed-of-63-mph, you can cover a lot of territory in that time, but if you need to expand-the-range Kowitz has a suggestion.

“A user could set-up-remote-charging-stations that are solar-powered with more-packs,” he says. “That way if they’re 20-miles-out and don’t feel they have the range-to-return they could swap-in-fresh-batteries-from-a-remote-station.” That approach would be popular on larger farms or ranches.

The machine is outfitted with equipment approved by the Federal Aviation Administration. In addition, the airship uses optical-LIDAR for laser-based-obstacle-avoidance. This is not-an-autopilot-system, the operator is always in control, but these added systems add to the safety of the Recon design.

And Recon floats. “The limit for an ultralight is 255-pounds-empty, but if you fly on land and water you can add weight. We’re at 285-pounds,” Kowitz says. That increases the versatility of the machine as well.

Maintenance and Upkeep The design of the machine is essentially simple. The aircraft-grade-aluminum-frame holds the 6-rotors. Battery-packs are contained under each rotor powering an electric-motor that can be refurbished after it passes its useful-life. Rotors are carbon-fiber and can be replace by the owner too.

“A farmer that’s maintaining an internal-combustion-engine on his farm will have no problem maintaining this machine,” Kowitz says.

Initial-operating-life of the batteries-and-motors is about 2,500-hours, though that’s based-on early-build-models. The Company is putting test-machines in the hands-of-farmers-this-fall and has a full-build-schedule-planned-out.

“We’ll start in 2023 with 100-machines that will mostly be hand-built,” Kowitz says. “Our goal is to build 1,000 in 2024.” [Too bad it ended-up a total failure!] He explains that the first-100-machines will allow the Company to fine-tune it’s manufacturing-processes, which may include 3D-printing of some components.

That first-manned-test-flight marked a major milestone for the startup. Kowitz wants to talk with farmers too to get more insight into their thoughts of how the machine might be used. Ryse Aero Technologies will be on hand near the Autonomy exhibit on the east-side of the grounds of the 2022 Farm Progress Show and they will be flying the machine during the event.

“Although most cropland was operated by farms with less-than-600 crop-acres in the early-1980s, today most cropland is on farms with at least 1,100-acres, and many farms are 5-and-10-times that size.”

Average Farm Sizes

https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/publications/45108/39359_err152.pdf

I’ve used an extreme example of a western-mega-ranch of say 20,000 acres but, for example, when it comes to ranches specialized in beef-cattle operations, a farm is considered a ranch at around 440+ acres of land. Small-family-farms are considered to be small-ranches at around 200 acres of land. A large family-farm is considered a large-ranch upwards from 1,400 acres.  There are a few mega-sized ranches with around 2,000 acres. It is these small ranches that make-up about 80% of the total ranches. In Texas there are 30 ranches with 2,500 acres-of-land-or-more. Among the 30-ranches, there were 134,000 beef-cows.

Here is another example of another long-delayed project still struggling to finally begin volume production and determining how it will be classified in the U.S., apparently being too heavy now to qualify as an ultralight, as they originally claimed.

Jetson-ONE Update

September 5, 2022

We are proud to introduce our new R & D and limited production facility in Arezzo, Tuscany. In April 2022, the stars-aligned for Jetson. We found our new home in a private-airfield south of Florence, with an 2,600’-airstrip and an adjacent industrial facility from the late 19^th-century.

Our team celebrated the opening of our new HQ and R&D hub last week. We invited a handful of Italian press and important local government officials to join us for this momentous occasion. Our guests watched the Jetson-ONE take to the skies and later enjoyed a tour of our beautiful new facility.

Our new ‘skunk-works’ were originally used as a silk-factory in the 19^th-century. This is now being aggressively renovated to home the new R & D and limited production series.

However, we will not be stopping there.

We are also creating a client experience center and pilot school. It is here in the breathtaking Tuscan hillside, surrounded by vineyards and stunning Tuscan architecture, that we will be inviting guests to experience the Jetson-ONE and also learn-to-fly.

The Tuscan climate allows for perfect flight-testing conditions and the 2,600’ airstrip means we can continue to fly daily. Any customer who has received an assigned chassis-number were invited in the Spring of 2023. We look forward to welcoming you soon. [Well, that didn’t work out well for them when they failed to give the promised demo-flights to the early purchasers.]

It appears that the Jetson-ONE must be too heavy to qualify as an ultralight in the U.S. Being factory-built, it would also not qualify as an experimental-aircraft here in the U.S. As such, it leaves open the question of exactly what sort of pilot-license one requires to operate it here.

Navigating the Skies: Unraveling the Licensing Requirements for Jetson-ONE

By Davis Brown -  December 26, 2023 - Do you need a license to fly a Jetson-ONE?

Introduction: The Jetson-ONE, a revolutionary personal aircraft, has captured the imagination of many aspiring aviators. With its sleek design and futuristic capabilities, it’s no wonder that people are eager to take to the skies in this cutting-edge flying-machine. However, before embarking on this airborne adventure, it’s essential to understand the licensing requirements associated with operating a Jetson-ONE. In this article, we will delve into the intricacies of obtaining a license for this remarkable aircraft, debunk common misconceptions, and provide valuable insights for prospective Jetson-ONE pilots.

Understanding the Jetson-ONE: The Jetson-ONE is an innovative personal aircraft that combines vertical-takeoff-and-landing (VTOL) capabilities with electric-propulsion. It offers a unique flying experience, allowing individuals to navigate urban environments with ease. With its compact-size and advanced technology, the Jetson-ONE has the potential to revolutionize personal transportation. [Just like all the other competitors in this segment here in the U.S.]

Licensing Requirements: To operate a Jetson-ONE, it is crucial to possess the appropriate license. However, the licensing process for this futuristic aircraft differs from traditional pilot certifications. Currently, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in the United States does not have a specific license category for personal-electric-aircraft like the Jetson-ONE. As a result, individuals must explore alternative avenues to obtain the necessary qualifications.

1. Sport-Pilot License: One option for flying a Jetson-ONE is to obtain a Sport Pilot License. This license allows individuals to fly certain light aircraft, including powered-parachutes, weight-shift-control aircraft, and gyroplanes. While the Jetson-ONE does not fall under these specific categories, some argue that it aligns with the spirit of the Sport Pilot License due to its lightweight and simplified flight controls.

2. Part-107 Remote Pilot Certificate: Another potential route is to acquire a Part-107 Remote Pilot Certificate. This certification is designed for individuals operating unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) for commercial purposes. Although the Jetson-ONE is not explicitly categorized as a UAS, it shares similarities in terms of size, weight, and flight characteristics. As such, obtaining a Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate could be a viable option for Jetson-ONE pilots.

Common Misconceptions: 1. “I can fly a Jetson-ONE without any license”:
Contrary to popular belief, operating a Jetson-ONE without the appropriate license is not permissible. While the licensing requirements may differ from traditional aircraft, it is essential to adhere to the regulations and obtain the necessary qualifications. [For what category exactly?]

2. “My driver’s license is sufficient”: Although possessing a driver’s-license demonstrates a level of responsibility, it does not grant individuals the authority to operate a Jetson-ONE. The unique nature of this personal aircraft necessitates specialized training and certification.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ):

Q1: Can I fly a Jetson-ONE with a private-pilot-license?
A1: Currently, there is no specific license category for the Jetson-ONE. However, individuals with a private-pilot-license may possess the necessary skills and knowledge to operate this aircraft safely.

Q2: Are there any age restrictions for flying a Jetson-ONE?
A2: Age restrictions may vary depending on the licensing route chosen. For example, the minimum age for a Sport Pilot License is 17-years, while the minimum age for a Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate is 16-years.

Q3: Are there any ongoing efforts to establish a specific license category for personal-electric-aircraft?
A3: Yes, various organizations and regulatory bodies are actively exploring the development of specific license categories for personal-electric-aircraft. It is crucial to stay updated on any changes or advancements in this area.

Conclusion: Operating a Jetson-ONE requires more than just a passion for flying; it necessitates the acquisition of the appropriate license. While the current licensing landscape may not have a dedicated category for this futuristic aircraft, exploring alternative avenues such as the Sport Pilot License or Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate can pave the way for an exhilarating flying experience. As the world of personal-electric-aircraft continues to evolve, it is essential to stay informed about the latest regulations and licensing requirements to ensure safe and responsible aviation practices.

So, that is where we stand today after the now complete failure of RYSE-Recon and still looking for a viable eVTOL project.

[Need updates to all these projects to see which are still viable. I still like the Chandler, AZ group with their RotorX and plan to stop by on the way back to La Jolla for another couple of days visit for an update.]

 

 

3/20/2025 8:48 AM

 

{Ultralight Donation – Plan D – Part 2}