Pivotal's Helix: Your Personal Flying Car Awaits

Pivotal, a California-based aviation company, is making personal flight a reality with its electric vertical take-off and landing vehicle, the Helix. Reservations are now open for this single-seat eVTOL, with deliveries anticipated within nine to twelve months.

The Helix aircraft operates entirely on electricity, allowing for vertical take-off and landing without the need for a runway. Its classification under the FAA's Part 103 ultralight category means no pilot's license is required to fly it. The aircraft has a roughly 30-minute flight time on a full charge, which takes about 75 minutes.

With an empty weight of approximately 355 pounds, the Helix is designed for flight below 200 feet and cruises at around 62 miles per hour. The base price for the Helix is $190,000, with optional accessories available. A $50,000 deposit secures a reservation, and Pivotal reports a strong backlog of orders.

Training for the Helix is conducted at Pivotal's headquarters in Palo Alto and at the Monterey Bay Academy Airport, typically completed in under two weeks. The company emphasizes the aircraft's simplicity, with only 18 moving parts and built-in redundancy for safety. Pivotal boasts over 9,000 flights completed across its fleet without safety incidents, with over 2,500 of those including a pilot.

While concerns about noise and airspace are acknowledged, Pivotal focuses on recreational use, short-hop travel, and specialized missions, differentiating itself from urban air taxi services. The company actively engages with communities and points to independent testing that shows its aircraft are quiet, with flyover noise levels comparable to common environmental sounds.