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A passenger drone from Philippine inventor aims to cut travel time in half

Update: In a world-first, two guys compete in flying racing cars

Philippine inventor, Kyxz Mendiola unveiled a passenger drone. He calls it a flying sports car that represents the future of transportation. He drove it out of a warehouse and took off among a cheering crowd, leaving them all in a cloud of dust.

Passenger drone ‘worked perfect’

Kyxz Mendiola, a former dancer, and a camera operator turned into a drone inventor and introduced his flying sports car to a cheering crowd. The passenger drone took off in a cloud of dust and hovered for a few minutes. It is powered by similar technology as you find in modern small consumer drones. According to Reuters, Mendiola said after his first public test flight that:

“It was amazing. All the hard work paid off. Everything worked perfect.”

The ‘Koncepto Milenya’

The passenger drone is officially called the ‘Koncepto Milenya’. It can fly as high as 20 feet and as fast as 37 mph. Its initial public test flight lasted a little over ten minutes.

Mendiola said it had taken a long time to save up for all the components he needed. Especially the six lithium-ion batteries that power the single seater drone were expensive. The “Koncepto Milenya” can carry up to 220 lbs and could potentially save hours on trips in busy cities like Manilla. Mendiola said:

“When we have to go somewhere about an hour’s drive, this can take you there in five minutes,” he said.

The initial test flight

The initial public flight took place in the province of Batangas, Philippines. According to Mendiola, the drone is easy to fly:

“Press a button and it will go up, then push the stick forward, it goes forward. It’s very smart, that’s why I’m saying it has a lot of potential.”

The passenger drone has 16 rotary motors and can keep flying even if two of those rotors would fail, according to the inventor. Since a video of the drone went viral on social media channels, an Australian company, Star8 is now partnering with Mendiola. Star8’s Chief Executive Jacob Maimon has plans to mass produce the drone and start selling it in Australia, Europe, and Hong Kong. He said that the company could help Mendiola and that they “will get there very fast now.”

https://youtu.be/D0r5O9AeEGg
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Photo: Reuters / Eloisa Lopez

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Avatar for Haye Kesteloo Haye Kesteloo

Haye Kesteloo is the Editor in Chief and Main Writer at DroneDJ, where he covers all drone related news and writes product reviews. He also contributes to the other sites in the 9to5Mac group such as; 9to5Mac, 9to5Google, 9to5Toys and Electrek. Haye can be reached at haye@dronedj.com or @hayekesteloo