The door to the cabin slides open, and you
take your place on one of the five seats just
in time for the door to close again. Powered
by hydrogen fuel cells, the six rotors begin
to spin, and the Skai air taxi lifts off. It’s all
very much like any normal helicopter ride,
with one important difference: There is no
pilot. The six-motor aircraft was developed
by BMW’s Designworks studio and the
aviation startup Alaka'i. Skai is designed to
fly for about four hours and has a range of
400 miles—enough to avoid the traffic when
traveling from Boston to Washington, D.C.
Refueling at a hydrogen station takes just
10 minutes. The biggest hurdle that Skai
will have to overcome: gaining the trust of
its prospective users. According to various
surveys, only about a third of consumers
would consider traveling in an unmanned
aircraft. Therefore Skai’s makers plan to
focus on emergency services and cargo
before trying to launch an air-taxi service.WOULD
YOU FLY
IN THIS
DRONE?
In the unlikely event of a complete
power failure, Skai can land with
the help of an airframe parachute.Each of Skai’s six
electric motors has
an output of 136 HP,
and there are multiple
redundant systems
for safety.liters (106 gallons) of
hydrogen is the maximum
capacity of Skai’s fuel tank.
Depending on the load and
speed, that can power
the aircraft for up
to four hours.400
May 2020 40 ideasanddiscoveries.com
questions&answers