From Jetsons to Blade Runners to Fifth Element, flying cars are one of the mainstays of science fiction. For Australian businessman Matt Pearson, owning one was a childhood dream. Pearson is the founder of Alauda Racing and the creator of Airspeeder, a new sport. He flirts specifically for what he calls "Sky Ferraris". The inhabited UAVs will face off one by one, riding a runway at speeds of up to 200 km / h. The company has already unveiled three-quarter scale prototype showcases and will present its first full-scale prototype at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in July. It is an incredibly ambitious project, but Pearson gives the impression that it is the most natural thing in the world. His first adventure was a software startup, but he found his attention in heaven. I thought it was going pretty well. Let's do something really crazy and find a flying car builder Matt Pearson, Alauda "I wanted to do something a little bit bigger, so I started a space start-up that aims to put little satellites in space for internet connectivity," he told The comparison. "Australia and many other parts of the world are really suffering from the terrible internet connection. Many industrial equipment and other items outside of cities have to be connected. That is why I am not the only one in the world. I started working on this one. Problem last year, we installed four satellites. In orbit, it's very good. " The company has been establishing itself in the space industry for five or six years, but again, Pearson has been itching. "I thought, well, it seems to be going pretty well," he says. "Let's do something really crazy and I found a flying car builder."
The driving experience - in the air
Pearson's ultimate goal is to integrate flying cars and make them accessible to everyone, as easy to fly as a land car, but the technology is still in its infancy. "We created the Alauda Aeronautics company, large-scale drone technology continues to grow and we see if we can do something that can transport a person," he said. before everyone gets out there, before Ehang reveals himself to the world, CityAirbus, Volocopter, so when we started talking about how we were going to build flying cars, everyone was saying to themselves, "Okay, you're certainly crazy. But after about a year of work, items started popping up everywhere and all of a sudden they moved to Oh, "yeah, that makes perfect sense." "Image Credit: Alauda Racing Flying Cars Alauda will be different, however, companies like Boeing and Bell are working on flying taxis as an easy way to get from A to B. "This is what the revolution looks like, because of its autonomy." John Langford, president and CEO of Aurora, a subsidiary of Boeing Flight Sciences at the launch of Boeing NeXt, a prototype air taxi. "The certifiable autonomy will allow a silent, clean and safe urban air mobility." Such projects are great, Pearson says, but he wants to preserve as much driving experience as possible. His vision of a flying car is as simple to use as an ordinary sedan, but at the top: "Instead of the complexity of a hey or airplane, it is easy to control like a car that everyone can drive but the air."
A ferrari from the sky
A whole new form of transportation involves a lot of research and development, but Pearson had a plan, a way to step on the gas and advance technology. "I really wanted to build something really exciting," he says. "Something must be expensive and the first version we created was going to be a very small, very expensive vehicle, so I thought well: let's start with a sports car or, you know, or a hyper sports car - essentially a Ferrari from "In Rather than wait 10 years as the air mobility industry catches up, Alauda has decided to create a market for flying cars from basic principles with a dedicated racing league. Image Credit: Alauda Racing "Since the beginning of car driving there has been a race, and a lot of good things have come out of the competition, right?" Pearson said. "You have tremendous amounts of money, skills and talents to push technology further and further, so it makes a lot of sense." And we have seen things like Formula 1 derived from Formula E, the drone race has progressed, Roborace has arrived, they are trying to find the next stage of the race. And we thought that merging these things into the EV race was quite logical. I always say, "Who doesn't go to see a flying car race?" Matt Pearson, Alauda "I always say that by building a race around that, you're getting a huge audience. We're building a market for our vehicle in Alauda. "This market is Airspeeder, a prestige sport with four-meter-long electric vehicles racing in some of the hottest places in the world." It captures the "Pearson" motorsport crowd. It also captures the sports and drone audience, and I always say, "Who doesn't go to see a flying car race?" ?"
Take off in 2020
The presentation at Goodwood in July will mark the start of a new milestone for Alauda and Airspeeder. The crew's test flights will take place later this year and the team is working hard to make sure the vehicle meets safety regulations. "You see a lot of things on YouTube, like people flying in a lawn chair or a bathtub or whatever." Pearson, "but we're doing something very different, if you want to do something for performance, you need a lot bigger engines, bigger propellers, a lot more power." Alauda works closely with regulators to ensure you follow the rules. As Pearson points out, certifying a vehicle is one thing, but certifying it for sport is another. The company is working through tough times, but is determined to do everything that is in the rules. We have a surprising number of people who look alike: "Sign me up! When can I have one? Let's do it!" Matt Pearson, AlaudaHe is also in talks with major sponsors and broadcasters for the first world championship, scheduled for next year. Pearson isn't doing much at the moment, but he says things are taking shape and Goodwood is really delivering a hit. Something Alauda doesn't struggle with is finding pilots who join serious G-forces. A mix really interesting from people who are racing pilots, drone pilots and ex-military, "Pearson said." But we also get a surprising number of people saying to themselves, 'Sign up. When can I get one? Let us do it! "" For more information, watch Airspeeder.com Starting in July, things are going fast.