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The Opener BlackFly's two twilight flights were the highlights among a few showings by personal electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2022. Opener’s Version 3 vehicle was on display, and flew in the night airshow and the Twilight Flight Fest. Last year, the BlackFly hovered only, and this year it added maneuvering—an impressive improvement to an already impressive airshow routine.

Flight test engineer Wyatt Warner operated the BlackFly from the cockpit during the night airshow.

"I was just able to get in the vehicle for myself for the first time about a month ago and start racking up some human flight hours," he said. "I've had personally over 100 flight test sessions in the field…. It was a real dream come true to step into the vehicle for the first time." When flown remotely, the BlackFly is a drone and has an N number. When operated with a human on board, the 313-pound-empty-weight vehicle is an ultralight and requires neither an N number nor a pilot certificate to operate.

The company does not currently have a hard date when BlackFly will be available for purchase, stating that the priority now is to increase human flight hours and experience. Once in mass production, though, Opener expects it to retail for about the price of an SUV. Currently the single-seat, eight-motor BlackFly can fly for about 20 minutes at a time. Charging takes about 30 minutes.

"We're really excited to show the world some cool eVTOL technology," said Warner. "The flight controls are so intuitive…. The flight controllers are doing the heavy lifting behind the scenes."

"This is a big first for me, it's the first time I've been at an airshow flying," he said, noting that this is his first time at AirVenture. The BlackFly will make another appearance in the July 30 airshow at 4:50 p.m. Central time.

Although futuristic electric air taxis continue to draw substantial interest from investors, companies like Lilium, Beta, and Volocopter were absent from the exhibitor list at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2022. A handful of personal advanced air mobility aircraft were on display; Joby Aviation, a frontrunner in the commercial urban air mobility market, had a small exhibit with simulators on display.

Joby has logged more than 1,000 test flights of its four-passenger eVTOL aircraft, reporting a top speed of 170 knots and a range of 130 nautical miles. The company paused its flight testing program after one of the two test aircraft crashed during a remotely piloted flight in February, but flight tests of the second prototype aircraft resumed in March. The aircraft was not on display at AirVenture; visitors instead could try their hand at flying the aircraft via desktop simulator.

While the Joby S4 is intended to be a commercial air taxi, the AIR One, an eight-rotor electric aircraft on display at the show, is targeted at the private market. AIR CEO Rani Plaut said the two-seat aircraft has a range of 60 to 100 miles, a payload of 500 pounds, and a maximum speed of 130 knots. With a car-like interior and fly-by-wire controls, Plaut said the aircraft will be easy to fly and is intended for day use and leisure.

“We try to get to the feeling of flying….This is about you being outside experiencing the view.”

The One is priced at $150,000. Plaut said a test aircraft is now flying, with FAA certification expected in the second half of 2024. The company hopes to take advantage of the FAA’s Modernization of Special Airworthiness Certificates framework than the traditional type certificate route, he added. —Sarah Deener