With yesterday's road-trial under our belt, we're off to the studio in Liverpool for the promo shot of the vehicle that I intend to pitch to investors in the UK and US.
I've gone for an IKEA build to suit recreational flight in the US, where regulations are more relaxed and the prospects for personal air mobility better. Nobody will be taking this up to any height, but it'll be a doozy for flying along the seaside above the waves.
It'll be something you can order online for flat-pack delivery and how-to assembly guide, with your choice as to whether you want to pimp your ride with electricals or have us supply.
It's on par with personal-computing, when the likes of Jobs and Wozniak were putting hardware and software together in Californian garages in a pick-and-mix that would eventually coalesce into global manufacture... not so much a PC on every desk as a PAV in every back yard.
The figures are in though, and good news is the airframe is thirty pounds, (13.4kg) the battery-packs twenty-two (10.2 kg) and seat and mannekin a further fourteen (6.4kg).
It means this 2/3rd scale prototype is clear for flights without the payload as a regular drone in the UK and the US (where we've a pre-existing registration). And with Monty and his seat on board, we're still good to go as a large RC model.
Beside all of this there exists a market for GEVs ~ or hovercraft to you and me ~ for which these make the ideal substitute, given they can leap over fences or pop up for a quick gander.
(Note to self to contact the RNLI on this basis, as anyone watching Saving Lives at Sea will notice that boats are great for getting there, but not so good for spotting heads in the water.)
But that's all ahead of us, and first we'll get it flying on display circuits here and there.
Showtime!
