Yeah, this is a flying taxi, the one and only such in the world that was built by a company called Avcen Ltd which is based in Britain. Since 1998, they have been actively testing, assembling and promoting the use of Jetpod, an aircraft that can hover around at the height of only 200 metres in average and can be commercialize as a flying taxi with capability to taxi 8 peoples. The flying taxi is due to be ready in 2010.
However, today something initiates as big event to test the Jetpod turned ugly. The Jetpod, tested by its inventor Michael Robert Dacre, 53, who was piloting the taxi, crashed and burst into a ball flames during a test flight at Tekah, somewhere in Taiping I guess. (As reported here at The Star)
The crash happened at 12.30pm Sunday, killing Dacre, who is also Avcen's managing director.
According to Wikipedia, Jetpod is a design proposal for a very quiet aircraft that can take off and land in a short distance or acronym as STOL - 125 metres to be exactly. It is not really a helicopter but it can be used as a military aircraft for transportation, medium-range air taxi or as an executive transport. It can reach a maximum speed of 550km/h. (pictures from here)
The crash happened at 12.30pm Sunday, killing Dacre, who is also Avcen's managing director.
According to Wikipedia, Jetpod is a design proposal for a very quiet aircraft that can take off and land in a short distance or acronym as STOL - 125 metres to be exactly. It is not really a helicopter but it can be used as a military aircraft for transportation, medium-range air taxi or as an executive transport. It can reach a maximum speed of 550km/h. (pictures from here)
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