Rotor X Aircraft unveils the DRAGON Ultralight eVTOL personal air vehicle kit that is now ready for order
Advanced Tactics Inc, a small defence aircraft contractor in southern California, has teamed up with the Rotor X Aircraft Manufacturing Company in Arizona and surprised the world by secretly developing and demonstrating the first aircraft factory-built Ultralight eVTOL Personal Air Vehicle (PAV) Kit, called DRAGON.
The Advanced Tactics Inc. Black Knight Transformer is the world’s first heavy-lift VTOL multi-rotor that drives like a truck and carries military casualties to safety.
Advanced Tactics Inc. is a pioneer in multi-rotor vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft technology, and by 2014 they had developed and demonstrated the world’s first VTOL Air/Ground Mobile Vehicle called the Black Knight Transformer for the US Army. The advantage of this revolutionary 4,400 lb. air and ground mobile vehicle with VTOL flight capabilities is that it can fly and land in a safe area, drive to rescue a casualty then drive to a safe area to fly quickly to a field hospital. The Black Knight Transformer is the first multi-rotor that was rpm controlled to fly at over two tons in weight.
Beginning in December of 2021 Advanced Tactics Inc. started work on a low-cost high-performance multi-rotor VTOL unmanned cargo and rescue vehicle with funding from the US Air Force AFWERX program. The goal of this project was to develop and fly a technology evaluation aircraft that could use fuel-burning or electric motors.
Advanced Tactics Inc. realized that this technology had vast commercial potential as an ultralight eVTOL Personal Air Vehicle (PAV). Because of its low cost, simplicity, and high reliability, it would do well in carrying people that wanted to just hover and fly above the ground and have fun without helicopter training as an FAA Part 103 Ultralight Aircraft. Advanced Tactics decided that partnering with Rotor X Aircraft Manufacturing Company in Arizona to produce the Dragon Ultralight eVTOL PAV in a kit form would have real appeal to the public.
The Rotor X Aircraft Manufacturing Company in Chandler, Arizona is a US manufacturer with a 50+ year heritage of producing the world’s most produced (over 2,500) 2-seat kit helicopters.
After the RotorWay International Helicopter Manufacturing Company went out of business in 2020 the Rotor X Aircraft Manufacturing Company took over the RotorWay factory and began making new helicopter kits. Home – Rotor X Aircraft Manufacturing Co.
The Dragon ultralight eVTOL PAV is leveraging the vintage RotorWay Scorpion kit helicopter heritage from 1967 (shown below). The Scorpion 1-seat kit helicopter was the first of homebuilt helicopter kits in the world.
The new Advanced Tactics Inc. multi-rotor technology means that the Dragon eVTOL is light enough to meet the FAA qualifications for an ultralight aircraft (empty weight under 254 pounds), but it can carry a pilot that is over 6’6” (198cm) weighing up to 250 pounds (113 kg) and can fly for up to 20 minutes depending on the weight of the pilot and the atmospheric conditions (air density).
There are unique features of the DRAGON ultralight eVTOL PAV. Because the Dragon eVTOL PAV technology began from unmanned military multi-rotor aircraft technology development over the last 15 years, it has enhanced autonomous functions and safety features. Another unique feature in this industry is that there will be a 2-seat version of the DRAGON eVTOL for available for pilot training in 2023. There will also be builder assist and pilot training facilities in several locations in the USA with California, Arizona, Texas, and Georgia on the list.
This joint effort between Advanced Tactics Inc and Rotor X Aircraft will enable the first production kit version of the DRAGON Ultralight eVTOL PAV to be rolling off the assembly line in a new manufacturing facility in Chandler, Arizona by the fall of 2023. The Dragon Ultralight eVTOL PAV kit is expected to take only a week, or two weekends, to assemble and require only a few hours of training that includes following FAA Part 103 flight regulations for ultralight aircraft. With the ability to continue hovering even after a motor fails and having a ballistic parachute and helicopter safety landing gear, the DRAGON eVTOL PAV aircraft will be the safest in the industry. The development and testing of this commercial aircraft – the Dragon Ultralight eVTOL PAV – is funded entirely by Advanced Tactics and is licensed by Rotor X Aircraft to sell and produce the DRAGON eVTOL PAV kits to the public.
Those interested in being a DRAGON owner should go to the website and make their pre-order now while the introductory $85,000 per DRAGON price is still available for the first 100 DRAGON kits sold. The regular DRAGON kit price is expected to be $99,000.00 after the first one hundred pre-order kit sales are completed. The first DRAGON kits are estimated to start shipping to customers as soon as September 2023.
Website: Dragon – Personal Air Vehicle rotorxdragon.com
