Personal aircraft is the hype nowadays, and as the market grows, more and more products keep blooming. Just like Watfly Atlas. Designed by two students from the University of Waterloo, Atlas is what is called a vertical takeoff and landing aircraft or VTOL.
The personal aircraft has been developed for the past couple of years. It is created specifically in such a way as to fall under the definition of an ultralight aircraft weighing less than 115 kilograms.
Such machines do not require mandatory expensive certification. In some countries, a pilot license is not required to fly on such an aircraft. Watfly Atlas is also approvable as Ultralight Air Vehicle
The location of the two empennages of the WatFly Atlas thus gives the impression that the plane takes off the wings on the ground.
Atlas is a single cab with a rotary-wing, on the consoles of which are installed two electric engines. These electric engines are powered by a rechargeable battery installed in the wing. Thanks to the rotary-wing, Watfly Atlas will be able to perform vertical take-off and landing and fast horizontal flight.
WatFly does not provide lots of technical details on the Atlas but one thing for sure is that it is made of carbon fiber. The machine has a wingspan of 4.6 meters by 2.5 meters high.
Watfly Atlas got an empty weight of 129 kg and capable to carry up to 113 kg of load. During 60 minutes fly time, the VTOL aircraft can fly as fast as 200km/h.
The safety feature is quite high as Atlas is capable to make vertical takeoff and landing with just two electric engines. Besides, a ballistic parachute is installed on the product, which will be released in the event of an accident.
The startup plans to market Atlas starting next year for $ 150,000. The company plans to begin deliveries of the first fully functional Atlas in the third quarter of 2021. By this time, Atlas trials should finish and the first flight is scheduled for the end of 2020.
