Humans have always been obsessed with the idea of flight. Personal aviation is an exciting idea, but there are a number of challenges standing in the way of this innovation. Namely, the ability to cost-effectively and efficiently do it. Airvinci a startup founded by Tarek Ibrahim, a Graduate of the Toronto Founder Institute, plans to make personal aviation easy, cost-effective, and low-maintenance. How do they do that?
The Airvinci Backpack Helicopter is a major step in the direction of widespread personal aviation. The device is the perfect combination of helicopter and drone and it fits right onto the wearer's back. The controls are simple and intuitive. The mechanics of the device are not complicated, yet elegant. The Airvinci Backpack Helicopter requires no runway for takeoff and as of now has the ability 260 pounds up to 12,000 feet. Airvinci is currently in the process of completing their prototype and look to live-stream the Backpack Helicopter's first flight this year. They have plans to have their product on the market by 2017.
The initial market for this incredible innovation is geared towards avid flyers such as pilots and skydivers. There is also a strong market in the search and rescue field too. Many fire departments and other safety organizations have been using drones to observe fires or emergency situations from a better vantage point, and there is considerable interest in using the Airvinci Backpack Helicopter to rescue people from burning buildings and other disasters. Another group of people who are going to be among the first wave of users are the adventurous people who are interested in flight and innovation. The really cool thing about the Airvinci Backpack Helicopter is that since the maintenance costs are so low and the controls are so easy, realistically, this innovation is targeted at the whole world of consumers. Time will tell, but personal aviation could be the next standard method of transportation for people around the world.
What really separates the Airvinci Backpack Helicopter from all of the other drones on the market is the capacity to carry heavier weight, up to 260 pounds. Since the Airvinci Backpack Helicopter can also be used as a drone, there is considerable interest from shippers around the world. Companies like Amazon and DHL have already began experimenting with drone delivery options. With the Backpack Helicopter these companies could deliver bigger items such as TVs and appliances while still utilizing drone technology.
Founder of Airvinci, Tarek Ibrahim, always has had an interest in taking things apart and putting them back together again. He even built his own car, but this was not enough. “Initially, I just wanted to build something that I could use to fly in," Ibrahim said. However, he did not have the expertise or the technical ability to build something like that so he hired a group of mechanical engineers and aerospace scientists to help bring his personal aviation vision to life.
All of the parts of his device are built custom on site except for the engine itself which is a 28 horsepower engine designed for small aircraft. Currently, the aircraft has seven-foot long rotors, smaller than a helicopters 16-foot rotors, designed for urban use. The Airvinci Backpack Helicopter runs on jet-fuel and right now the development team is shooting for an hour's worth of flight time.
The idea of personal aviation is exciting and still probably a ways off from consumer use since there are a number of legal and infrastructure concerns to deal with before everyone can start flying around, but thanks to Airvinci, we are closer than ever to seeing this innovation realized.
