Alef Aeronautics’ Model A Ultralight in production

15 Dec Alef Aeronautics’ Model A Ultralight in production

(Oilandgaspress) Alef Aeronautics said that it has began production on its Model A Ultralight—a “drive-and-fly” vehicle that it believes will be the first true “flying car” to be delivered to a customer.

Alef said the vehicle, which is designed to lift off directly from roads and allow its occupants to soar over traffic, will take “several months” to build. It will be delivered to “only a few early customers, for the purpose of testing flying cars in the real-world environment, under very controlled conditions,”

Customers will be selected from a queue of investors with the “highest deposit and priority,” the company told FLYING.

Powered by eight propellers embedded in a mesh shell surrounding the driver’s seat. After liftoff, the vehicle rotates so that its left and right sides become upper and lower wings. The driver’s seat gyrates forward to face what was the vehicle’s roof in car configuration, becoming a cockpit.

By putting the Model A Ultralight in customers’ hands and testing those features in a realistic environment, Alef believes it can chart a path toward scaled production of its larger Model A—the flagship design it plans to sell for $300,000. It intends to provide training, maintenance, and compliance services for pilots conducting testing with the ultralight variant, which it said has reduced weight and “some mechanical changes” to qualify for the FAA’s Part 103.

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