Bell Helicopter will unveil its style for an urban air-taxi style tomorrow at the Consumer Electronic Devices Program (CES) in Las Vegas. The four-passenger style will use full connectivity, including video conferencing capability.
“The future of city air taxi is closer than lots of people realize. We think in the favorable effect our style will have on attending to transportation issues in cities worldwide,” said Bell CEO Mitch Snyder. “While we are laser-focused on the traveler experience and eager to show the general public, Bell continues to develop our air-taxi design to supply safe, dependable transport services to the world.”
Today throughout CES 2018, guests can experience an enhanced reality simulator inside the air-taxi cabin created to depict a variety of flight situations, consisting of cross-city day and night trips. Last year, international ride-sharing service Uber and Bell revealed plans to partner and accelerate the eventual large-scale deployment of electrical vertical departure and landing (eVTOL) vehicles.
Last year, Scott Drennan, Bell’s director of engineering development, stated his business’s design would be robust enough to fly 2,000 hours each year; be “modular, versatile, and scalable”; have the ability to use a variety of powerplants; have both civil passenger and military logistics applications; and most likely be accredited under the FAA’s new powered-lift category established for tiltrotors. Uber thinks city air taxis can be operated for an expense near $1.32 per mile, about one-third of the cost of running a turbine helicopter.
Source
http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2018-01-08/bell-helicopter-unveil-urban-air-taxi-ces-2018
