People who grew up in the glory days of television cartoons will no doubt recall the futuristic life of one George Jetson, who on a daily basis climbed into his personal vehicle for a daily aerial commute to his job at Spacely Space Sprockets. No doubt the cartoon’s viewers fully expected that, by the time they were old enough to operate such conveyance, they too would be darting across the skies on a regular basis.
The father of aviation. Well, at the very least an inspiration for the Jetson ONE. Image: Heritage Auctions/HA.com
Well, it didn’t quite work out that way. In fact, the idea of thousands of airborne vehicles crisscrossing urban skies probably remains something best left to the fictional realm of films like Bladerunner.
But the allure of owning a personal means of flight is undeniable. And that brings us to the Jetson ONE eVTOL (electric vertical take off and landing).
Jetson ONE depicted on a recreational desert flight. Image: Jetson
The inspiration for its name is obvious. But though the Jetson ONE differs in appearance from George Jetson’s vehicle, the idea is still more or less the same.
The Jetson ONE is the brainstorm of a Polish inventor, Tomasz Patan, who developed the craft in 2021. The company quickly began attracting investors, including rapper Will.i.am and prominent Italian businessman Luca Spada, who now sits on the company’s Board of Directors. After initial construction operations in Poland, Jetson moved production to Arezzo, Italy.
A Jetson One seen on a test flight. Image: Jetson
With over one hundred horsepower channeled through eight electric motors driving props, the Jetson ONE is capable of speeds of just over 60 miles per hour with a ceiling of 1500 feet. The vehicle is based around a Formula 1-like safety cell construction. Although a pilot license and special training are not required, there is one overriding restriction: you must be in fairly good shape to operate a Jetson ONE, as the company’s website notes a “maximum pilot weight” of 210 pounds.
How big of an impact has the emergence of Jetson ONE created? Well, consider the fact that this personal vehicle was selected for inclusion in Microsoft Flight Simulator.
Supernal four-passenger eVTOL. Image: Supernal
The eVTOL market is one that is drawing both scrutiny and interest, and there are companies who are developing vehicles far more complex – and with corresponding greater capabilities – than the relatively modest Jetson ONE. As just one example, Supernal – a Hyundai Motor Group subsidiary – has been testing this year at California’s Mojave Air & Space Port with a flight demonstrator craft in pursuit of the realization of the SA-2 next generation eVTOL aircraft, designed for a pilot and four passengers.
But for personal use at a relatively tantalizing price point? This little Jetson ONE eVTOL certainly resonates with a distinctive primal urge to just – take off!
For more information on Jetson ONE visit: https://jetson.com/
