This is the $92k Jetson ONE: the people’s helicopter

This is the people’s champ, at least according to its makers Jetson. That’s right, a company called Jetson has built a small helicopter. It is called the ONE; a ‘vertical take off and landing’ vehicle, or VTOL because nobody has time for that.

Indeed, nobody has time for commuting either, so Jetson has opened up the ONE’s ownership. “Our mission is to make flight available to everyone,” explains Jetson founder Peter Ternstrom. “The Jetson ONE is an electric helicopter that you can own and fly.

“We intend to make everyone a pilot,” he added. And you thought rush hour on land can get a little hairy - wait for a phalanx of these in the skies…

Anyway, we’re told the ONE is built around a “racecar-inspired” rigid aluminium spaceframe chassis with eight electric motors, each one a “high power output electric brushless outrunner” running off a lithium-ion battery of an undisclosed size. The ONE can apparently continue working if one of these motors goes kaput.

It weighs 86kg in total, while the pilot can weigh up to 95kg. Jetson says it can fly for a full 20 minutes with an 85kg pilot on board, up to a limited top speed of 63mph which is more than fast enough for your average consumer.

Controls? There are some, handily: a three-axis joystick with a throttle lever, and there are various LIDAR sensors fitted for terrain tracking and obstacle avoidance. Heck, it’ll even hover hands free.

Jetson is only building 12 next year… and they’ve all sold out. But you can order one for 2023, if you’re quick. Speaking of which, it’ll recharge as quickly as it’s sold out. “The Jetson ONE requires virtually no maintenance, it is an extremely compact VTOL that recharges faster than a smartphone,” its makers proclaim.

Price? There is one… and it’s not actually what you’d think. It’s yours for $92k – with a $22k deposit – and it’ll arrive as a partially assembled kit that you have to finish yourself. Don’t worry, there are instructions.