China Unveils 'World's First' Pilotable Flying Platform — But The US Had One In The '50s

The Chinese aircraft design company CoolFly has unveiled a new pilotable flying platform known as Urban. This story comes from the Global Times, an English-language offshoot of the Chinese state-run publication titled People's Daily, which refers to the new flying platform as "the world's first air skateboard."

However, the Urban machine bears a strikingly similar appearance and functionality to the Hiller Model 1031-A-1 Flying Platform that was developed in collaboration with U.S. armed forces in the 1950s. China has earned a lot of credit for its innovations lately — as with the powerful offshore flying wind turbines in China — but in this case, the "world's first" accolade deservedly goes to the Hiller.

The Hiller and the Urban are both "vertical takeoff and landing" (VTOL) aircraft. This means that the craft can hover and maintain a constant altitude in a way that's relatively easy for an untrained operator to manage. The difference is that the Urban is powered by CoolFly's NA80 flight control system, which CoolFly describes as "the world's first flight control system purpose-built for eVTOL." The eVTOL distinction is important; the Hiller was powered by two Nelson H-59 gasoline-chugging engines. It's much more accurate to say that the Urban is the first electric-powered flying platform of its kind — a fact that CoolFly acknowledges, even if certain news outlets are breeding misconceptions on the subject.

CoolFly's Urban flying platform is an all-electric craft that boasts zero emissions from its propulsion. It's a quad-axis, eight-rotor system with aviation-grade safety and redundancy failsafes. At the heart of it all is the NA80 flight controller, which has been described as an "AI-powered gravity-sensing system" that tracks the combined center of gravity of the machine and its pilot, adjusting automatically to keep everything in balance during flight.

The Urban is meant to be a consumer-grade product. CoolFly recommends using this flying platform for tourism, recreational outdoor activities, and even urban air mobility; a way to casually traverse the city. CoolFly explains that you do not need a pilot certificate, a medical certificate, or even an airworthiness certificate to operate the Urban.

If this sounds exciting to you, you might be in luck. CoolFly has showcased its flying platforms at U.S. tech shows and is committed to engineering its crafts to comply with U.S. FAA Part 103 ultralight regulations. This likely won't be one of those cool new gadgets you can only find in China. And interestingly, despite there being so many good reasons Chinese EVs should come to the U.S., there's a real chance that this novelty flying platform will become available in the States even before China breaks into the American auto industry.