Will Your Flying Car Drop Like a Rock? AeroHT’s Parachutes Beg to Differ!
Oh, the things I get asked at dinner parties... The classic clinker everyone wants to lob my way, especially after they've discovered my penchant for all things that zip and zoom, is: "What happens when the battery goes kaput mid-flight in one of those fancy flying cars?" Well, folks, I've got some electrifying news courtesy of AeroHT that'll make sure we won't need to keep an impractically long cable trailing behind us just yet.
AeroHT, you see, has devised a devilishly clever little contraption - a multi-parachute system - that promises to save your bacon when your eVTOL (that's electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing vehicle for the uninitiated) decides to play dead bird at a mere 164 feet (50 meters) above terra firma. The idea of a ballistic parachute system isn't new but AeroHT has turned fiction into fact and did so with a video that's got more cuts than a budget hair salon.
This spectacle of safety shows the AeroHT X2 manned multicopter prototype playing Icarus, but instead of a tragic ending, the chutes blast out quicker than a sneeze in pollen season - grabbing air in about a second and a half - and fully deploy faster than it takes to say "Please hold your applause". They say the contraption managed to cradle the X2's fall to around 11.6 mph (18.7 km/h) before it kissed the ground. For context, that's like leaping off your dining room table and expecting to walk away with your dignity intact.
They didn't show us the post-parachute pirouette or the ground smooch, claiming the aircraft was unscathed. And while the thought of landing at that speed makes my spine recoil, it beats plummeting at breakneck speed (70 mph or 113 km/h, according to the good folks at Omni's Free Fall Calculator).
But here's where my eyebrow arches just a tad. AeroHT's editing scissors have left us pondering what a fully uncut descent might look like. They've asked us to take a leap of faith, but I suppose not showing potential buyers the equivalent of an aerial rodeo isn't bad for business. So, while I'm handing out the benefit of the doubt like candy on Halloween, I'm also keeping a kernel of skepticism tucked in my back pocket.
In the same breath, AeroHT flaunted a six-wheeled "aircraft carrier" van (because, why not?) and their latest flying supercar prototype at Xpeng's Tech Day 2023. Talk about a triple shot of espresso for the soul of every motorhead!
In the grand theater of the skies, AeroHT is offering a safety net that could easily become the next standard feature in the fast-growing world of eVTOLs. It's the equivalent of wearing a belt with suspenders, but when you're hundreds of feet in the air, that's not paranoia; it's just good sense. They've provided us a peek at a future where a dead battery doesn't mean a freefall, but rather an unscheduled pit stop, complete with parachutes that deploy with the gusto of a Broadway encore.
So, as we look to the horizon, where cars will not only honk and swerve but also ascend and glide, we take comfort in knowing that companies like AeroHT are dotting the i's and crossing the t's on safety. As a motoring enthusiast with an eye on the electric sky, I'll be watching with a smirk and a hope that they'll keep refining this tech until it's as reliable as the morning coffee maker. Because let's face it, we all love a bit of thrill, but when it comes to flying high in our cars, we'd rather leave the theatrics to Hollywood and keep the adrenaline for joyrides on terra firma.
Yours truly,
Captain Electro
