Quadcopter Personal Helicopter?

[n4gix 4,947]

It was only a matter of time I suppose before some company thought of this!

Quote

The Workhorse SureFly, the newest addition to the personal vertical takeoff and landing market, was unveiled today at the Paris Air Show. Workhorse's helicopter is designed to fly up to 70 miles and features a two-seat cabin, eight single-blade propellers and minimal controls, all atop two simple skids for landing.

https://www.verticalmag.com/news/surefly-personal-vtol-unveiled-paris-air-show/

[WingZ 547]

There's a better version of this, can't put my finger on it right now...

The drone lands on a "skate" which is a roadgoing EV. You drive along and park it at a charging station and then detach and fly off to the next place when you feel the need.

All these ideas just need a Better Battery to get rid of the infernal combustion bit.

[Paraffin 2,197]

All these ideas (including the Airbus version) are interesting as a tech demo, but don't plan on seeing them in widespread use anytime soon. The problem isn't the batteries, or even safety issues. It's noise. 

Have you ever noticed how so many YouTube clips of small drones are set to music, and not an actual audio recording of what they sound like? They buzz like a loud hornet's nest. And that's just the small ones. Imagine the rotor noise for something large enough to lift two people.

These things will not be permitted to land and take off in urban and suburban areas due to the annoying noise factor. They'll be regulated like helicopters, and the only helicopters that can operate anywhere they want in a populated area are emergency types like HEMS and police. A big part of that is the annoyance of the noise at ground level, when taking off and landing. This kills the whole "fly anywhere" fantasy of the flying car.

Hate to be a grump about this, but until they invent quiet anti-gravity motors for these things, they'll just be a gimmick, restricted to noise abatement corridors if they're used at all.