4 ms·

Why do they even start with auch things? Pipedreams? Rich execs who lost all relations to day to day living? Taxi are expensive, air taxi adds a trained pilo

Why do they even start with auch things? Pipedreams? Rich execs who lost all relations to day to day living? Taxi are expensive, air taxi adds a trained pilot, airspace handling (permission hell), additional space requirements AND airtaxi maintenance. All the reasons why I don't fly my own little plain.

hnbad 4y ago
It's appealing to people who don't want to drive because they don't want to have to deal with other drivers and who don't want to use public transit (even if it were improved) because they don't want to be exposed to yucky poor people. The requirements for piloting this being more expensive and bureaucratic than for driving a taxi are a plus because it means you only have to deal with a pilot (well-groomed, stylish, sexy) and not a taxi driver (nasty, smelly, weird accent). Much like all "privately owned public transit substitute" startups, yes, the target demographic is obnoxious rich people.
- ETH_start 4y ago
  This response seems overly resentment motivated.
Nextgrid 4y ago
> Why do they even start with auch things? Because somebody is happy to give you money for it. That somebody might themselves be getting money from someone else for such a project. It doesn't have to be viable or lead to a successful business. If you can live the "founder lifestyle" and get a decent salary for yourself and your friends while bolstering your resume (since such failures aren't seen as bad by the industry), a lot of people will be happy to do it. This happens very frequently in software/SaaS startups but there's no reason it can't happen with physical things.
nradov 4y ago
The civilian air taxi thing is obviously a pipe dream. Not going to happen. But in the process of failing in that market, some of these eVTOL companies might create some IP that would be very attractive as an acquisition target for the major aerospace defense contractors. It's probably impossible today to build an air taxi that would meet FAA certification safety requirements while still being cheap enough for profitable operations in US airspace. But it might fit the resupply or medevac mission for ground troops under enemy fire. The military doesn't have to make a profit, and they're more flexible on safety requirements. So it's a long shot but some of these investments might turn a profit.

hnbad 4y ago

It's appealing to people who don't want to drive because they don't want to have to deal with other drivers and who don't want to use public transit (even if it were improved) because they don't want to be exposed to yucky poor people. The requirements for piloting this being more expensive and bureaucratic than for driving a taxi are a plus because it means you only have to deal with a pilot (well-groomed, stylish, sexy) and not a taxi driver (nasty, smelly, weird accent). Much like all "privately owned public transit substitute" startups, yes, the target demographic is obnoxious rich people.

ETH_start 4y ago
This response seems overly resentment motivated.

Nextgrid 4y ago

> Why do they even start with auch things? Because somebody is happy to give you money for it. That somebody might themselves be getting money from someone else for such a project. It doesn't have to be viable or lead to a successful business. If you can live the "founder lifestyle" and get a decent salary for yourself and your friends while bolstering your resume (since such failures aren't seen as bad by the industry), a lot of people will be happy to do it. This happens very frequently in software/SaaS startups but there's no reason it can't happen with physical things.

nradov 4y ago

The civilian air taxi thing is obviously a pipe dream. Not going to happen. But in the process of failing in that market, some of these eVTOL companies might create some IP that would be very attractive as an acquisition target for the major aerospace defense contractors. It's probably impossible today to build an air taxi that would meet FAA certification safety requirements while still being cheap enough for profitable operations in US airspace. But it might fit the resupply or medevac mission for ground troops under enemy fire. The military doesn't have to make a profit, and they're more flexible on safety requirements. So it's a long shot but some of these investments might turn a profit.