Ryse Aero's one-person eVTOL is like a flying mountain bike
Air taxis are the bulk of the hype surrounding eVTOLs (electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles) despite their long road to market, high upfront costs and plethora of hurdles regulations. Ryse Aero Technologies, an Ohio-based startup that builds airplanes that look like flying ATVs, thinks eVTOL technology could be better utilized in a more near-term market.
The company, founded in April 2021, recently opened bookings for its Recon ultralight aircraft – a single-seat eVTOL with land and water take-off and landing capabilities and a maximum altitude of 400ft . It is powered by six independent motors, each with removable and rechargeable batteries.
"The idea was to create something extremely safe, extremely reliable that anyone could steal," Ryse CEO Mick Kowitz told TechCrunch, noting that the Recon, weighing 286 pounds, is classified as an ultralight aircraft. This means that it is intended for individual use, cannot be flown over congested areas and does not carry heavy loads.
It also means that the Federal Aviation Administration doesn't stipulate a set number of hours of training required, so really anyone could fly one.
"We give about an hour to two hours of training and you use it," Kowitz said.
So far, Ryse has built four prototypes, along with a few pre-production vehicles that it is currently testing with farmers. The startup sees many potential use cases for the aircraft - search and rescue, parks and recreation, oil and gas development - but Ryse's go-to-market strategy targets the agricultural industry in the United States.
"We're really looking at reducing crop compaction, reducing soil compaction, being able to access your fields during planting season," Kowitz said. “You might get a burn in the field and the ground is really wet, but you still have to go. What farmers do is they drive as far as they can with their pickup truck or their ATV, and sometimes they walk two or three miles to where the problem is. The Recon can get them there pretty quickly without too much compaction. »
Soil compaction, by the way, is caused by putting weight on the soil via foot traffic, the trampling of livestock, cars, or other farm machinery. This compresses pores that would otherwise carry water or air, interfering with root growth and causing oxygen deficiencies.
In addition to avoiding soil compaction, Kowitz says the Recon can save farmers, ranchers and vineyard owners an even more valuable commodity: their time. The Recon has enough battery capacity to run 10 miles out and 10 miles back, which equates to about 25 minutes of playtime at a top speed of 63 miles per hour.
Image credits: Ryse Aero Technologies< /p>
"Your time is valuable, and in the agricultural world, a lot of people don't necessarily value your time because it's a commodity they think they have enough of," Kowitz said. "In their life as a farmer, they also lived with the idea that time is what you spend walking in that field, but if you can find places and save an hour, two hours a day, what is does this apply to you?"
How about $150,000? That's what the Recon will do once it hits the market. And that might seem like a pretty penny to a city dweller like you or me, but in the farming world, it's nothing - at least according to Kowitz. A ...
Air taxis are the bulk of the hype surrounding eVTOLs (electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles) despite their long road to market, high upfront costs and plethora of hurdles regulations. Ryse Aero Technologies, an Ohio-based startup that builds airplanes that look like flying ATVs, thinks eVTOL technology could be better utilized in a more near-term market.
The company, founded in April 2021, recently opened bookings for its Recon ultralight aircraft – a single-seat eVTOL with land and water take-off and landing capabilities and a maximum altitude of 400ft . It is powered by six independent motors, each with removable and rechargeable batteries.
"The idea was to create something extremely safe, extremely reliable that anyone could steal," Ryse CEO Mick Kowitz told TechCrunch, noting that the Recon, weighing 286 pounds, is classified as an ultralight aircraft. This means that it is intended for individual use, cannot be flown over congested areas and does not carry heavy loads.
It also means that the Federal Aviation Administration doesn't stipulate a set number of hours of training required, so really anyone could fly one.
"We give about an hour to two hours of training and you use it," Kowitz said.
So far, Ryse has built four prototypes, along with a few pre-production vehicles that it is currently testing with farmers. The startup sees many potential use cases for the aircraft - search and rescue, parks and recreation, oil and gas development - but Ryse's go-to-market strategy targets the agricultural industry in the United States.
"We're really looking at reducing crop compaction, reducing soil compaction, being able to access your fields during planting season," Kowitz said. “You might get a burn in the field and the ground is really wet, but you still have to go. What farmers do is they drive as far as they can with their pickup truck or their ATV, and sometimes they walk two or three miles to where the problem is. The Recon can get them there pretty quickly without too much compaction. »
Soil compaction, by the way, is caused by putting weight on the soil via foot traffic, the trampling of livestock, cars, or other farm machinery. This compresses pores that would otherwise carry water or air, interfering with root growth and causing oxygen deficiencies.
In addition to avoiding soil compaction, Kowitz says the Recon can save farmers, ranchers and vineyard owners an even more valuable commodity: their time. The Recon has enough battery capacity to run 10 miles out and 10 miles back, which equates to about 25 minutes of playtime at a top speed of 63 miles per hour.
Image credits: Ryse Aero Technologies< /p>
"Your time is valuable, and in the agricultural world, a lot of people don't necessarily value your time because it's a commodity they think they have enough of," Kowitz said. "In their life as a farmer, they also lived with the idea that time is what you spend walking in that field, but if you can find places and save an hour, two hours a day, what is does this apply to you?"
How about $150,000? That's what the Recon will do once it hits the market. And that might seem like a pretty penny to a city dweller like you or me, but in the farming world, it's nothing - at least according to Kowitz. A ...
What's Your Reaction?
