Drones have revolutionized the world of cinema, agriculture, environmental monitoring, search and rescue of the missing. They have (unfortunately) redesigned the war industry. And they are preparing to do the same with the universe of transport: goods and products, but also people. The technology is now mature, and one of the most cutting-edge examples is built in Italy: it is the Jetson One “flying scooter”, a single-seat drone with vertical take-off and landing, which allows the pilot to fly with maximum freedom and maneuverability far superior to any superlight, and gives us a glimpse of a (probably near) future in which flying cars and motorbikes will no longer be relegated to science fiction.
Jetson One is produced by the Swedish company of the same name, but is built in Arezzo. And it is in an advanced stage of production: 400 have already been sold, and deliveries will begin at the end of the year. For now it is a sports recreational vehicle, which means that it is designed for recreational use, between airfields and small private airports. But as his test pilot, Commander Andrea Spresian, told us, whom we met during the Air Mobility Show – the exhibition of advanced air mobility and electric aviation which is currently being held at the Fiera di Roma inside the ZeroEmission Mediterranean international fair – the plans for the next few years are much more ambitious.
The flying scooter produced in Italy
“It is a very versatile vehicle and it is very easy to learn to fly it, and for this reason we are studying its use in many fields, from urban traffic to agricultural irrigation, as a flying taxi and for the transport of blood and organs,” explains Spresian. “Initially the use will be only recreational, because new infrastructure and regulations are needed to be able to pilot it in an urban context, but things are changing quickly in this sense too”.
The first deliveries, in fact, are expected in the United States, where the rules allow aircraft under 115 kilos to be driven without a license (Jetson One weighs less than 90). But Enac (the National Civil Aviation Authority) has recently published a new regulation for flights with vertical take-off and landing vehicles, a document illustrated during ZeroEmission Mediterranean during the Rome Drone Conference 2024, which opens the door to Italian and European certification of vehicles such as Jetson One, and defines the requirements for future “vertiports”, in which they will take off and land, even in an urban context.
Jetson One is capable of flying for 20 minutes with a load of 95 kilos, reaches a speed of 102 kilometers per hour (limited via software for safety reasons) and an altitude just over 450 meters (established by current regulations). It costs the same as a luxury car (around 100 thousand euros) and for now it will remain a whim for wealthy people. But with a widespread network of vertiports, things would change a lot: it could allow rapid travel even in and out of cities, with short stops for a battery change (which requires an hour to recharge, but can be replaced in an instant, like that of an electric scooter), and thus transform itself completely into a vehicle for everyday use.
Flying at 102 km/h at 450 meters high
Let’s talk about the future, of course. But of a future that may not be too distant. “Now that the regulations are there, I think that many other companies will want to invest in this field – concludes Spresian – we hope to have a two-seater version within four or five years, and then we will work on a four-seater, which could be used comfortably as air taxis, including remotely piloted. I think that within about ten years, vertical take-off and landing vehicles will become a common presence in many cities.”