Appears I'm not the only one to have considered the benefits of propellers pitched vertically above and below accommodation, a proposition I've long supported and for which I've produced any number of iterations. I've also been told that I need to up the quality of the renders and feature them in operational visualisations like the one on the left above, so I figured I'd take a closer look at the NeXtuas 'iFly'.
The relevant patent filed back in 2017 does indeed relate to the configuration, though whether it was envisaged back then as a means of transporting people I could not be sure. It may appear in the text but is omitted from the abstract and diagrams, where it would be were it considered the 'killer app'... no pun intended.
The video evidence of it ever having flown as intended is scant, the screen-capture showing it flying with the original skids, which I'd guess you'd have to retain. So many of these eVTOL projects exist only in pixellate form that it's worth the due diligence as investment is generally being sought, but this one does at least have a basis in fact.
As someone who's been there ~ and is still there ~ I would suggest that more tangible evidence is required before either VCs or SPACs are petitioned.
But that didn't ever do the likes of Vertical Aerospace any harm, did it? What they had instead however were financial friends in London, a billionaire owner and a matching investment from the UK government which rarely places it beyond a safe bet ~ and via Rolls Royce if required, which it bailed in '71 and looks set to do again.
