announcement that beginning in 2025 it will build as many as 500 electric air taxis a year may be just the beginning for flying car manufacturing in Southwest Ohio.
The business is taking off, according to the Executive Vice President, Aerospace and Defense Elaine Bryant. 鈥淲e鈥檙e bringing flight to the masses. So, think about your car in your garage and the automakers had to build 500, 1,000, whatever it is, to keep up with the demand. So, that鈥檚 what we鈥檙e gearing up to.鈥�
At least five eVTOL (electric vehicle take-off and landing) companies are testing at the Springfield Beckley Municipal Airport. They include Joby, Lift, Beta, Opener Aero and Moog.
Opener鈥檚 CEO Ken Karklin showed off his company鈥檚 personal air vehicle at the . It is at The National Advanced Air Mobility Center of Excellence, which had its grand opening Monday at the Springfield Airport.
The vehicle, the BlackFly, has a range of 20 miles, is tandem wing and can seat just one person-the pilot/operator. Karklin has already sold a few of them but operators are restricted to uncongested air space. Next month Opener says it will release pricing and availability. The California company is working with government agencies and their contractors in Southwest Ohio and may consider manufacturing on a larger scale here.
鈥淎nd where this goes longer term, remains to be seen,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ut what I can say is this is a fantastic location, and a fantastic facility for ongoing development of eVTOL technology and going to be something we take a serious look at.鈥�
BETA makes in Vermont, but when it goes into larger production the company says it may consider the Miami Valley.
Moog is based in Cincinnati and continues to test the in Springfield and at Lunken Airport.