Page 29 - Jewish News_August-2020

ISRAEL & THE JEWISH WORLD August 2020 29

Israeli-made flying cars may be floating into our future

Yavne-based Urban Aeronautics is developing its CityHawk
to be a kind of Uber of the air, starting with emergency services.
By Brian Blum, ISRAEL21c.org
or nearly 60 years, the dream both utilize Fancraft technology. The box and electricity comes out the has made 300 flights already, “it’s not a
of flying cars that many Baby unmanned Cormorant can carry up to other side.” production aircraft, it’s a one-off.”
FBoomers grew up on while 1,400 pounds of cargo while the City- In this case, modern electric cars The CityHawk “will be ready two
watching TV’s George Jetson jet Hawk is being designed with seats for can have electric engines even if the years later,” he adds. “We’re talking
around the skyways has remained un- five passengers and the pilot. fuel source is hydrogen. The Honda 2028 or 2030.”
fulfilled. Yoeli tells ISRAEL21c that the The lengthy pro-
But the dream is still alive. A dozen first deployment of the CityHawk will cess of applying for and
startups around the world are develop- probably be for emergency services. receiving FAA certi-
ing VTOLs (vertical takeoff and land- “With such a small physical foot- fication alone could
ing) – the technical term for flying cars. print, they serve a critical need: the take five years. “We’re
One of the most intriguing of those ability to land anywhere,” he says. not in a race,” Yoeli
companies is in Israel. Yavne-based “You can bring a doctor directly to a stresses.
Urban Aeronautics is developing City- patient or rescue a patient. Helicopters Meanwhile, the 20-
Hawk to be an eventual “Uber of the today often must land a kilometer away, person company will
air.” then the medical team runs through the be raising additional
Urban Aeronautics’ CityHawk will streets. A lot of time is lost.” Drawing of the inside of the CityHawk VTOL rounds as its aircrafts
have two features that make it stand In June, Urban Aeronautics signed courtesy of Urban Aeronautics move toward commer-
out from the flying crowd. an agreement with Silicon Valley- Clarity and Toyota Mirai are examples. cialization. And there are key strategic
First, the CityHawk won’t have based HyPoint to incorporate the lat- The same will be true with the City- partnerships to ink. In addition to Hy-
wings or external rotors. Urban Aero- ter’s hydrogen fuel-cell technology Hawk, which is actually an “eVTOL” – Point, Urban Aeronautics has agree-
nautics has spent the last decade and into the CityHawk. an electric VTOL – because its engine ments with Boeing, with the French
a half perfecting an internal propeller The Cormorant is powered by is all electric. manufacturer Safran Helicopter En-
standard jet fuel. Hydrogen can be refueled in min- gines, and with Asian mobility service
Hydrogen is more utes rather than hours for batteries. And Ascent.
environmentally hydrogen tanks are lighter than electric “We won’t stay 20 people in
friendly and packs batteries. When it comes to flying, ev- Yavne,” Yoeli predicts.
more bang for the ery kilo saved is critical. Will we eventually see pilotless air
buck, boosting the “If you have a one-ton helicopter taxis, similar to self-driving cars? Yoeli
(Pro.10:28). distance an aircraft and you shave off 70 kilograms, you isn’t banking on it.
Nationally, too, tiq-vah is the can operate by 300 can carry another ticket-buying pas- When you’re driving on the road,
power behind renewal and rebuilding. percent over gaso- senger,” Yoeli says. “Weight can make “if there’s a problem, you can pull over
Yesh tiq-vah, ‘there is hope,’ declares line. or break an aircraft design in terms of and stop the car. You can’t do that in
Jeremiah to all those who mourned the CityHawk, a proposed “flying car” by Urban Aeronautics With hydrogen useful payload and range.” the air.”
tragedy which befell the Land of Israel system called Fancraft (named after power, the CityHawk is intended to Ticket to ride Brian Blum has been a journalist and
(Jer. 31:17). And the prophet Hosea the large fans at the front and rear of travel for 100 miles before refueling The question that readers are undoubt- high-tech entrepreneur for over 20
echoed Joshua’s prediction that the the aircraft) that is safer for passersby (depending on weight) at a speed of up edly asking by now is: When can I ride years. He combines this expertise for
desolate land will become petakh tiq-and takes up much less space. to 125 miles per hour. in an Uber of the air? ISRAEL21c as he writes about hot new
vah, “a gate of hope” (Job 7:25; Hose Second, the CityHawk will be Fuel cells The answer: Not until closer to the local startups, pharmaceutical ad-
2:17). about the size of a large SUV so that Fuel cells convert the chemical energy end of the decade. vances, scientific discoveries, culture,
The noun tiq-vah is derived from it can land on a sidewalk near your of a fuel – in this case, hydrogen – “The CityHawk is not in service the arts and daily life in Israel. He
the verb le-qa-vot, which appears 47 home or office. Alternatively, up to four and an oxidizing agent (often oxygen, yet,” Yoeli admits. “We still need to loves hiking the country with his fam-
times in the Bible and depending on CityHawks could land on the roof of drawn from the atmosphere) into elec- design and build it.” The Cormorant ily (and blogging about it). Originally
context, has several meanings. Le-qa-an office building compared with just tricity. The only residue is pure water won’t be ready for another three years. from California, he lives in Jerusalem
vot means ‘to twist,’ ‘to stretch,’ ‘to a single traditionally sized helicopter. vapor. While a working Cormorant demo with his wife and three children.
strain,’ ‘to wait tensely,’ ‘to endure,’ Emergency services first Other “flying cars” are trying to
‘to expect,’ ‘to gather,’ ‘to collect’ and CEO Rafi Yoeli established Urban incorporate lithium-based electric bat-
‘to hope.’ Interestingly, the noun qav, Aeronautics in 2001 to develop heli- teries – similar to the type found in a
meaning ‘measuring line’ (Isa 47:13), copters with internal rotors. It took un- Tesla. Yoeli thinks that’s a mistake. UP TO
is also derived from this root. til 2013 to get the technology to work. “A kilogram of battery has just 5%
It is not surprising that the verb The first prototype, now called Cormo- the equivalent amount of energy as 36 MONTH
le-qa-vot and the noun tiq-vah are at rant (formerly known as the AirMule) hydrogen fuel cells, plus it’s not 100%
the center of many idioms. For ex-took off in 2015. sustainable like hydrogen,” he says. *
ample, be-qav ha-b’ri-ut, literally “in Urban Aeronautics has two di- We asked Yoeli why, if hydrogen is FINANCING
line of health,” implies the state of visions. Tactical Robotics develops so much better, battery-powered elec-
good health (Shulkhan Arukh 6;2). It is unmanned aircraft mainly used in de- tric cars are all the rage these days. *On select products. $1,500 minimum purchase, subject to credit approval. See store for details.
probably echoing the belief that lines fense, agriculture, cargo transport and “Hydrogen was tried two decades
on one’s hand determine one’s fate. power line maintenance. Metro Sky- ago, but it was to power normal inter-
M’-leh tiq-vah means ‘full of hope,’ ways develops manned craft like the nal combustion engines,” he explains.
whereas cha-sar tiq-vah means ‘hope-CityHawk. Today, with the advent of fuel cells,
less.’ Tiq-vah nikh-ze-vet implies ‘lost The Cormorant and the CityHawk the hydrogen goes “into a solid-state
hope,’ whereas ani tiq-vah means ‘I am LIFETIME
hopeful.’ We will end with the words
of Jeremiah: yesh tiq-vah le-a-cha-ri-
tekh, which literally translates to ‘there INSTALLATION
is hope for your future’ (Jer 31:17).
In these difficult moments, ani tiq-
vah. I am hopeful that the words of the GUARANTEE
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vah that we will see qav or, ‘a line of CAREGIVING
light’ at the end of this dark tunnel. Caregiver Resource Centers
Dr. Rachel Zohar Dulin is a professor Adult Day Care Programs
of biblical literature at Spertus Col- Support Groups
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