October 21st was a red banner day for the German aircraft designer e-Volo; for the first time in aeronautic history, an electric 'Multicopter' took flight and was manned by a single person.
Long before the Wright Brothers ever took flight, futurists have debated and revelled over the possibility of sustained personal flight. But as we approach another year devoid of flying jetpacks, it's clear that designers have to consider another paradigm. e-Volo, a company based out of Karlsruhe, Germany, decided to take the previously successful quadrocopter model and amp up the intensity -- 16 propellers and corresponding motors help this strange contraption gain altitude and maintain it. Depending on the weight of the payload, flight time ranges from 10-30 minutes, which is long enough to reach the grocery store! Personally, I can't wait for personal air travel to become a viable means of transportation -- let's just hope there are fewer multicopter accidents than motor vehicle collisions.
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