Well Uber’s secret plan isn’t so secret anymore!

The ride-hailing taxi service is now on a mission to develop aircrafts that are able to take off and land without a runway, and fly passengers wherever they want to go.

Oh, and they won’t need pilots because they will be able to pilot themselves. Pretty sweet, right?

Kind of, until you see VTOL X-Plane Phase 2 Concept Video. The aircraft is a bit bulky, to be honest.

Thankfully it’s only phase II, but according to Uber’s head of product, Jeff Holden:

The company is looking into what are called VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) aircraft, which might sound a bit like a helicopter, but they generally refer to planes with fixed wings.

There aren’t a lot of these types of aircraft out there, because it takes a large amount of energy to get a plane off the ground without giving it a running start – you’ve either got to use jet engines (like the Harrier Jump Jet) or massive propellers (like the V-22 Osprey).

This follows Uber’s introduction of self-driving cars to Pittsburgh at the end of last month, but the cars still have a long way to go before they are introduced into other cities.

The planes are only set to be a real thing in about 10 years or so, which is probably a very good thing as they really need to work on the design.

Also, the US has really strict guidelines when it comes to their airspace as well as the craft allowed to fly in it and according to Quartz:

Uber would need develop an entirely new type of aircraft and have it approved by a country’s aviation authority. That seems like a particularly daunting challenge for a company that has only had a robotics research facility for a little over a year.

So let’s see what they have to offer in 2026. Self-driving drones, here we come!

[source:qz]