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It looks like Lilum Aviation is now hiring http://lilium-aviation.com/#jobs
This is the company that has announced via the Telegraph a vertical lift flying car in two years.
Oh and there's something in there about a personal electric jet, with vertical take off and landing, a top speed of 250MPH and a range of 300 Miles.
But really, a job designing a real flying car, how cool is that?
From the article:
Personal aeroplanes which can take off noiselessly from the back garden, will be available within two years, engineers have claimed.
Lilium Aviation is designing an electric two-seater aircraft which takes just 20 hours to learn to fly, and can travel at speeds of 250mph.
Crucially, the small aircraft, which weighs just 25kg[sic], can take off vertically which means it does not need to fly from an airport, but could be parked outside a house or in a garden.
The company says the design will 'open the door to a new class of simpler, quieter and environmentally friendly planes' and will be available from 2018.
"Our goal is to develop an aircraft for use in everyday life," said Daniel Wiegand, CEO and one of the company's four founders.
"We are going for a plane that can take off and land vertically and does not need the complex and expensive infrastructure of an airport.
"To reduce noise and pollution, we are using electric engines so it can also be used close to urban areas."
(Score: 1) by SparkyGSX on Tuesday May 10 2016, @05:04PM
And indeed, it is a very cool job to have!
http://www.pal-v.com/ [pal-v.com]
But seriously, 25kg? 400km/h? 480 km range? Fully electric? Vertical takeoff? That's not just highly unlikely, that's about as far into "yeah, right" territory as you could possibly go. At least it doesn't run on water.
Even if the 25kg is a misunderstanding of the author of the article, and it would be 500kg instead, it still sounds very unlikely. Vertical takeoff requires a enormous amount of power, 400km/h requires quite a lot of power, and if it's all electric, the battery pack alone would weigh close to 500kg, if not more.
Also, if you can't legally drive it on a public road, it's not a flying car, is it?
If you do what you did, you'll get what you got
(Score: 2) by devlux on Tuesday May 10 2016, @06:12PM
Wow, that's actually the coolest thing I've seen ever. I want one. Are they shipping yet?
I've always wanted an autogyro every since I read Brave New World.
(Score: 1) by Scottingham on Tuesday May 10 2016, @08:13PM
check out http://www.e-volo.com/ [e-volo.com]
Actually made and working with a manned test flight!
All electric too! Though, I hope they use a gas range extender as I bet it only has like 15 min of flight time at the moment.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Tuesday May 10 2016, @06:40PM
> 400km/h requires quite a lot of power
Depends on the shape.
My friend flies one of these: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutan_Long-EZ [wikipedia.org]
115HP, 300km/h, sips fuel even with two people on board, but minimal luggage capability. One of the best flights I've ever taken.
(Score: 2) by subs on Wednesday May 11 2016, @04:31PM
There's easily about a 2x power requirement difference between going 160KT (300km/h) and 215KT (400km/h). Moreover, the aircraft you describe is clearly a strong compromise. Tandem seating, rather than side-by-side. Two-seat only. Very little carrying capacity. Heck, even the 135HP 4-seater DA-40 I fly is pretty underpowered and that's before you get to the load sheet and notice that you either take 4 people and no fuel or luggage, or if you want fuel and/or luggage, forget about 1-2 seats.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 11 2016, @12:47AM
Cool product. CEO needs more charisma....like any.
(Score: 2) by Foobar Bazbot on Wednesday May 11 2016, @12:49AM
Congrats on a very cool job working on a very cool product. That's the first flying-car/roadable-aircraft design I've seen without car-mode so obviously and utterly compromised that I can't really imagine driving it anywhere but to/from the airfield (in fact, it looks very fun to drive), and I do like autogyros.
On the other hand, it uses a single powerplant, which means aviation-type service intervals, so I still can't see putting hours on it by driving anywhere but to/from the airfield. Then again, I'm nowhere close to affording something like this -- maybe if you can afford it in the first place, you'll think nothing of paying for more frequent overhauls.