This question might give you a hint about my age – how many of you remember the cartoon show The Jetsons?
For those of you too young to know, it was a cartoon in the 1960s where the characters would “jet” around in personal aircraft. The travel was futuristic – a thing not likely to happen anytime soon. Until now.
The state of Florida has been selected as a site for research into personal air travel using “electric vertical takeoff and landing” vehicles (eVTOL). A news report I watched showed what looked like a small helicopter with lots of smaller blades to propel it. Basically, it’s a large drone-like craft that will carry people or products from one location to another.
The flights will be based out of the Orlando International Airport (MCO) and go to places like Disneyland and many others. The cost is expected to be around $6 per mile in the early stages and may drop down to $2 per mile as the system is developed.
The early phases of this method of transportation will be research and data collection. It wasn’t clear to me when the eVTOLs are projected to carry humans, and I’m pretty sure I won’t be a passenger on any of the early flights; I’d rather see this transportation method be tested and tested and tested before I crawl onboard to be a passenger.
I was only about six years old when The Jetsons was one of the shows I watched as a kid. None of us thought the day would come that people would fly around in personal aircraft, but here I am, over 60 years later, looking at what those cartoon creators’ imaginations put in their half-hour shows becoming a reality right before my eyes.
Seeing this happening makes me wonder how long it will be until we can enter a chamber and be transported to another location with the flip of a switch?
Have A Good Week!
