What is FLUTR?

A personal air vehicle for getting from home to the shops, school, work, client’s office, the golf course, a trip to the beach, the mountains, or wherever your imagination takes you.

It can also be used for rapid response emergency vehicles in congested urban neighborhoods or remote country areas, and search, rescue and patrol operations for safety organisations.

FLUTR stands for Flying Urban Transporter

It is also an abbreviation of "flutter" as in the motion of butterflies.

What does FLUTR the company do?

FLUTR, the company, creates air vehicles and technology suitable for the widespread adoption of personal air transport.

How easy is it to fly?

If you can drive a car, and use a smartphone, you can drive FLUTR.

Getting used to a vehicle that flies is faster and easier than you may think.

How many people will it fit?

                1 - 4 people*

                                2 adults, or

                                1 adult, 2 children, or

                                1 adult, 3 small children. (child size determined by weight- details later)

                                *final capacity determined by regulatory permission

Luggage?

                Yes.

                up to 120 kg / 260lbs (if flying solo)

                up to  20 kg / 44lbs if 2 or more people onboard

The vehicle has a boot capacity of 20 kg (for an overnight bag or golfclubs)

The rear seat can carry up to 100 kg of normal or oversized luggage.

Don’t I need a pilot’s license?

We are working with relevant authorities to reduce the training to just one weekend. Due to the simplicity and safety of the onboard and remote flight management and piloting system, you are likely to pick it up in less than an hour.

We will handle all of the licensing paperwork requirements for you.

You will be issued a FLUTR license.

Minimum pre-requisites are a driving license and associated minimum medical requirements. 

Isn’t aircraft ownership complicated? With maintenance, annual inspections, insurance etc?

Yes. We will handle this headache for you.

Can I drive it on the road?

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                We believe that if you can store FLUTR at home, and it’s not so noisy that your neighbors will complain, then there is no need to drive FLUTR to another location to take-off or land.

                And when you fly directly to a carpark near your destination, there will be no need to drive it further just to find another car park.

                It is however fitted with small slow-speed electric wheels for moving it around your driveway, street or garage.

Can I fly it directly from point to point?

                The flight paths are designed to follow main roads as far as practical to minimize any potential noise to communities, to maximize privacy to communities, and to minimize any potential risks to communities.

What happens if there is a mechanical failure?

A rapid deploying chute is fitted. We are evaluating various designs, and built in energy absorbing seats and airbags, to ensure a safe outcome from any height.

How high can it fly?

Typical everyday heights will be 500 to 2500 ft                  (150 - 750m, 1/10 - ½ mile).

                = 2 X Empire State Building, NY

                = 2.5 X Eiffel Tower Height, Paris

                = 2.5 X Commerzbank Tower, Germany

                = 1.0 X Burj Khalifa, Dubai

This low operating height is designed to reduce operating costs, minimize trip times, minimize crossing paths of other air-space users, avoid turbulence, and to not interfere with airlines.

The maximum height possible will be 10,000ft (approx 3000m, 3km, 2 miles) (measured from sea level).

The vehicle is capable of  20,000 ft if oxygen is carried, but this is not for normal operations.

How much does it cost?

                The target price is $199,000 (US dollars). Actual price at delivery may vary (up or down), and taxes may apply.

                There will also be a minimalized annual fee to cover maintenance, insurance, licensing, registration, air traffic control, and remote flight management services. The first year’s annual fee is included in the price.

                More announcements on pricing will be provided later.

                Vehicle financing options will be provided.

                We will be working hard to reduce the cost over time to offer widespread affordability.

Will it save me money?

                If time is important to you, yes. Driving FLUTR from one side of a populated city to another can take 2 hours, or only 10 minutes with FLUTR.

                Other associated costs of driving include parking and road tolls, which for frequent users can really add up. We believe that many people will pay a small amount extra for the extra hours per week that they do not sit in traffic, or commute along a highway.

                As a weekend toy it’s also a hell of a lot of fun.

What colors, interior and equipment  options are available?

Model options will be revealed at the model release date.

Can I land anywhere?

Take off and landing locations are typically:

Driveways

Yards

Street front next to drive way

Car parks

Car park rooftops

Parklands

Low traffic streets

Most cities permit or do not forbid helicopter landings at these sites subject to infrequent usage.

Minimum landing size is a circular diameter of 8m / 26ft.

On firm ground (bitumen, concrete, wood, stones, grass, dirt, ice. Not mud or snow)

More specifics on this at a later stage for each country of intended sale.

Will it fit in my garage?

Yes. With a folding design it is designed to fill the space of an SUV.

Unfolded it is designed to take up the equivalent of less than 2 car parking spaces.

Can I fly at night?

Can I fly it in all weather conditions?

                Yes and no. Night flying functionality will be inhibited for FLUTR drivers, but qualified pilots may fly it at night.

                A FLUTR driver may upgrade their FLUTR license to a pilot’s license at any time after some training.

Flying in strong winds, heavy rain, fog or other significant weather functionality is initially inhibited. 

Additional functionality will be released over time as operational experience is accumulated.

How fast does it go?

Fast! Cruising at 250km/h (150mph). Even faster with a tailwind.

Is it noisy?

During take-off, it is designed to be no noisier than a truck. This noise will be produced for less than a minute. In cruise it will be reasonably quiet, so it won’t upset neighborhoods who deserve their peace and quiet.

When will it be ready?

We are working at warp speed to get this vehicle into the hands of the millions of people who want one today.

As soon as a complete and safe vehicle and operating system is fully tested and ready we will let you know.

    Ownership and usage questions:

If I purchase a FLUTR, can I sell it to anyone?

Yes. But FLUTR reserves the right to ensure that the new owner will be a responsible operator. To do this any owner must agree to the terms of the owner’s agreement which details a minimal number of simple and reasonable conditions that ensures the safety of themselves and the public that they will fly over.

How does FLUTR guarantee the competence of drivers?

We will ensure that competent driver training is provided, and we will use background and medical checks to keep airspace safe. Just as importantly we will endeavor not to over regulate or complicate the process. Definitely no red tape. Airspace and aerial freedom of movement belongs to you, not bureaucratic corporations.

Can I buy a fleet of FLUTRs and lease them out?

Yes.

(more details coming soon)

I reserved a delivery slot, can I cancel my deposit?

I’m a qualified pilot, can I buy one?

Deposits with initial amounts above $1,000 are fully refundable at any time, up to the date of delivery. You may wish to sell your delivery slot which can be done on the website. See terms for full conditions.

Of course. Although we are not intending that the vehicle be used just for pilots, but by everybody. But realize that there is a strong demand by pilots who are looking for a simpler and easier flying vehicle ownership experience. Note that your flying license will likely not cover this type of vehicle and flying conditions, so supplemental instruction will be required.

Can I buy a FLUTR to use as a taxi?

Yes. Note qualified commercial pilots may only drive FLUTR as a taxi (due to government regulations in most countries).

         Technical questions:

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So it’s electric?

                             No. Electrically powered aircraft with VTOL (Vertical TakeOff Landing capacity) have limited useable range due to battery technology, and are not expected to be practical for at least 10 years.

VTOL or anything that hovers uses large amounts of energy, similar to how a hummingbird requires constant energy from nectar.

Compare pushing a car with trying to lift a car:

To push a 2 tonne electric car 1 mile along the road only requires 2kWH, but

to lift a 2 tonne vehicle, using electric VTOL methods, 1 mile high in the air, requires 100X as much energy, 200kWH, which would require a 1600kg battery.

(1kWH is the energy used in operating a hair-dryer for 1 hour)

Additionally, electric vehicles take a long time to charge which limits their usefulness. Refuelling FLUTR just takes a few minutes.

If battery technology catches up we will likely transition to electric propulsion.

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FLUTR is releasing 3 versions.

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FLUTR DTEH (Diesel Turbine Electric Hybrid)

FLUTR HEH   (Hydrogen Electric Hybrid)

FLUTR FE       (Full Electric)

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Only the FLUTR DTEH will be available first. The other 2 models are under development.

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If not electric, what do you use for power?

                FLUTR is dual fuel. Either Hydrogen or Bio-Fuel (bio-diesel/ethanol/bio-gasoline).

(Can also use conventional diesel or gasoline if other fuels are un-available).

                A tank of hydrogen can be made at home for a few dollars.

                Depending on how frequently you use the vehicle, and factoring in the cost of the hydrogen generator means that the fuel costs are similar to gasoline per mile.

                Additionally, more and more hydrogen outlets are appearing commercially every year. 

                 Bio-fuels are widely available in most countries.

Is Hydrogen safe?

Very. There are many hydrogen powered vehicles on the roads today, and the technology is well known.

Hydrogen, sometimes known as “star fuel”, is readily abundant and is 3 times more energy dense than gasoline.

How is H2 sustainable?

Burning hydrogen produces only water and zero pollutants. It can be produced sustainably with zero pollution, when produced using sustainable electricity. Hydrogen produced from other methods such as natural gas is

not sustainable.

Autonomous, semi-autonomous, remote piloting.. what’s the difference?

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                Autonomous means the vehicle can take-off, cruise and land with zero user input. This is not viable for at least 10 years.

                Semi-autonomous means that a combination of user and automatic vehicle control is used.

                Remote piloting means that a pilot controls some aspect of the vehicle from another location.               

                We will release more details on the system design utilized by FLUTR at a later stage.

I notice that FLUTR uses large rotors, compared to lots of smaller propellers or jets. Why?

Large rotors = slower rotors = lower noise.

The larger a rotor is, the slower it needs to move, to move air.

4 large rotors is quieter tan 8, 20 or 40 propellers or small jets.

Low noise is essential for widespread vehicle adoption.