Easy Riser

We step into one of the first eVTOLS available for testing, without a pilot's licence or previous experience. From up here, we can almost see the future.

- Michael Verdon

HOVERING 10FT OVER the ground, I feel like Aladdin on his flying carpet, save for the fact that I’m clutching two joysticks that control every move and I have the advantage of being generally familiar with non-carpet airborne experiences. My seemingly magic ride is courtesy of the Ryse Recon, an electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) craft that requires just a 15-minute tutorial that mostly covers how to operate those joysticks—left for altitude, right for speed and direction. Piloting sans pilot’s licence may sound like a bad idea (not to mention illegal), but here I am, gently making forward progress and fluidly moving side to side while strapped into the single seat, which is designed to withstand a crash generating up to 8 Gs. Within no time, all I want to do is go higher and faster.