Kitty Hawk Flyer is an ultralight flying machine for you to ride at the beach

By Luke Dormehl Published April 25, 2017

The flying car’s future envisioned by The Jetsons may not be here yet, but it got one step closer on Monday when Google co-founder Larry Page shared a video of the Kitty Hawk Flyer: An ultralight electric flying machine that is set to debut sometime in 2017.

“Our mission is to make the dream of personal flight a reality,” the creators of the Kitty Hawk Flyer note on their website. “We believe when everyone has access to personal flight, a new, limitless world of opportunity will open up to them.”

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The craft itself doesn’t look so much like a flying car as it does a majestic giant drone, upon which our Silicon Valley superiors can soar over our heads like modern-day knights on their geeky steeds. The good news is that you can get in on the act, too — although final pricing has yet to be announced. If you are tempted, though, you can pay $100 now to sign up to the Kitty Hawk membership club, which promises to save you $2,000 off the final cost of the ultralight vehicle. (Although it is worth noting that any time you can save a couple of thousand bucks off a price tag, it suggests the total price is not going to be cheap!)

Image used with permission by copyright holder

The Kitty Hawk Flyer is legal to operate in the United States, so long as you fly it over water in uncongested areas. According to its creators, you can learn to control it in just a few minutes, and you don’t need a pilot’s license to do so.

“We’ve all had dreams of flying effortlessly,” Page said in a statement. “I’m excited that one day very soon I’ll be able to climb onto my Kitty Hawk Flyer for a quick and easy personal flight. Someday soon we hope you will be able to do just that, thanks to this team’s hard work.”

Forget working out and tanning, this is how we plan to impress folks at the beach this summer (or whenever it’s available to buy).

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I'm a UK-based tech writer covering Cool Tech at Digital Trends. I've also written for Fast Company, Wired, the Guardian…

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