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This week, Volocopter released a video of their flying taxi being tested over the skies of Dubai. The unmanned drone is a prototype and not the first, but this sleekly produced video from the world’s leading passenger drone research center has people sitting up and taking notice. So are you ready to take a seat in the product people are calling the flying Uber? Let’s a take a look at what you can expect.

Unveiling the Dubai flying taxi

Okay, two things. First of all you can’t hail a flying taxi in Dubai. Don’t book your flight with Emirates over there just yet. You’ll be disappointed. The video is filmed in Dubai, presumably because the Volocopter were able to get permission there to try it out. Secondly, it’s not an Uber. The US company has nothing to do with the design, manufacture, licensing or use of the prototype. No doubt the designers will be willing to consider interest from the taxi hailing company, but there’s no news of talks yet. And we’re wondering, if you hold all the copyrights on a flying taxi, would you rather sell it to a company suffering from legal and logistical issues or develop your own taxi product?

Where can I ride a non-manned flying taxi?

Right now, nowhere, but we’re guessing when the product does become available it’ll be in Europe and here’s why.

Volocopter GmbH, the aircraft manufacturer behind the product, is German. And the 2x (as the copter is known) was funded to the tune of €25M by Daimler, who are also German. So naturally, the designers have been working with European DINs and Standards in mind.

The aircraft has been designed in accordance with the European Class 6 microlight helicopter rules. This is the best platform for the company to use if it wants the product to employed in air taxi service in urban areas – in Europe. Basically, they’re really serious about delivering this product as a taxi. They’re not messing around. Rather than design a non-manned taxi around a customer’s dream, they’ve designed it around the applicable European laws.

What does the 2x flying taxi look like?

The prototype is white, but this is a blank slate prototype. Depending who puts this out to market, expect to see a matching color scheme. As they’re German, we can imagine Lufthansa would love to use this product to ferry First Class passengers into Frankfurt am Main, but let’s see. The copter features 18 fixed-pitch propellers, each powered by its own electric motor. These sit on a halo like structure above the cockpit and deliver an unparalleled level of stability as this machine is designed to go from point A to point B – not rescue climbers from rock faces. Two side by side seats are contained within the closed cockpit. Skid landing gear finishes off the machine. And the important info – it flies at 60 miles per hour and can go around 30 minutes between charges.

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The branded Dubai flying taxi

If you watch the video you’ll see several variations on the 2x in rendered animations. One of those clearly has a Dubai company’s name on the side. And while the test flight was filmed in Dubai, we suspect Dubai will not be the first location to get the taxi. Volocopter have been shopping for investments to get the product to market and no doubt they’re courting in Dubai for investment. However, a real life model has been on display outside the Lufthansa departures and the Smart offices at several German airports. So we’ll just have to keep our eyes peeled.