It greatly limits your available flying days if you think "hey 30mph crosswinds are super sketchy, I don't want to fly today." So that means delayed trips or delayed returns. Hard to plan around.
I realize this isn't part of the current iteration and requires lots of regulatory hoops... But in future with automation, it would be amazing to know you could fly in clouds or evenings easily with only a basic private pilot's license.
Aviation self driving is so much older and reliable than automotive self driving, it's frustrating that it isn't generally available. It's awesome that you are working to bring it to low cost flying, thanks for working on this and congratulations on the launch!
I'll add that I think the "easy to drive as a boat or car" size of the market is easily 10x the existing private pilot market. (And the easy as a car and the price of a pickup truck size of the market is probably 1000x the current market). So I think you are on to something big.
You're not landing this thing in a 30mph crosswind in something this small, no matter how fancy the control logic. You'd be too skewed to land safely. 30mph is pushing is for some airliners. The aircraft this is built on is only certified for a 15kt cross.
The bigger problem is that low level winds that strong are often associated with bad weather...which again doesn't mix well with small planes.
A few of the places I'd want to travel to have consistently bad crosswinds. Crabbing looks complex and you have to get 5 things right or you die. For the non flyers check this out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ca0V5q4XSb8 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ri0D_0DdIU and how to do the maneuver: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92K8s-vppDI&t=3s
It greatly limits your available flying days if you think "hey 30mph crosswinds are super sketchy, I don't want to fly today." So that means delayed trips or delayed returns. Hard to plan around.
I realize this isn't part of the current iteration and requires lots of regulatory hoops... But in future with automation, it would be amazing to know you could fly in clouds or evenings easily with only a basic private pilot's license.
Aviation self driving is so much older and reliable than automotive self driving, it's frustrating that it isn't generally available. It's awesome that you are working to bring it to low cost flying, thanks for working on this and congratulations on the launch!
I'll add that I think the "easy to drive as a boat or car" size of the market is easily 10x the existing private pilot market. (And the easy as a car and the price of a pickup truck size of the market is probably 1000x the current market). So I think you are on to something big.