The head-first VTOL personal aircraft concept not for the faint of heart

Head-first into infinity and beyond … that’s the Dart Flyer promise (Credit: Ray Research AG)

Yes, that’s a head poking out the end of this terrifying personal flight concept. Called the Dart Flyer, it can essentially be looked upon as a quadcopter with a winged pilot cocoon on top of it. Definitely not one for nervous flyers, it’s been submitted as a contender in the GoFly challenge, sponsored by Boeing.

We’re still trying to work out if this Swiss design is a joke. The Dart Flyer, by aircraft design company Ray Research AG, is based on a small-scale, remote-control tailsitter aircraft that its creator believes can be effectively scaled up into a one-man aircraft that could turn the human body into a flying missile with your noggin as the warhead.

If it looks a little sketchy to you, fear not. The creator says its four electric rotors use “fail-safe electric propulsion,” that it flies “without any single point of failure,” and “guarantees that each of the four motors provides at least 75 percent power, even after any kind of failure.” You’ll forgive us if we don’t volunteer to put those claims to the test.

The idea is that you’d strap yourself into that tight cocoon, looking like you’re about to be shot out of a cannon. You’d then take off vertically, before going to a horizontal orientation to make use of the battery-saving lift and range those small wings could provide.

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