Pivotal Blackfly VTOL: Flying a Certified One-Person Aircraft

The Pivotal Blackfly: A Unique VTOL Design

• 🚀 The Pivotal Blackfly is a one-person, all-electric vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft that is certified and available for purchase in the USA.
• 💡 Its unusual design, a blend of drone, biplane, and spaceship, is driven by sound engineering principles to overcome the inefficiencies of traditional drone-like eVTOLs and the runway limitations of fixed-wing aircraft.
• ✈️ Unlike many eVTOL concepts, the Blackfly transitions from vertical lift to forward cruise flight by pitching the entire vehicle over, a design reminiscent of early VTOL jet fighters but made feasible by modern computer control and distributed electric propulsion.

Advanced Flight Control and Propulsion

• ⚡ Electric aviation's superpower lies in the low inertia and rapid spool-up/down of electric motors, enabling precise control through differential thrust, managed by modern flight computers and fly-by-wire systems.
• 🧠 The Blackfly utilizes eight propellers and four elevons, with its flight managed by three flight computers, three GPS units, and multiple inertial measurement units, all controlled via a single joystick.
• 💨 Propellers positioned at the leading edge of the wings provide airflow over the wing surface, preventing stalls even at high angles of attack by increasing effective air speed.

Pilot Training and Certification

• 🎮 Flight controls are designed to be intuitive, with similarities to video game interfaces, and are experienced through a realistic simulator that mimics flight attitudes and views.
• 🪂 The Blackfly is certified under Part 103 ultralight regulations in the US, simplifying the certification process by excluding emergency safety devices and floats from weight calculations, thus not requiring a pilot's license.
• ⚠️ Training includes simulating various emergencies, such as AGL sensor failure, motor temperature warnings, and GPS loss, to ensure pilots can safely handle contingencies and make sound aeronautical decisions.

Flight Characteristics and Safety Features

• 📈 During cruise flight, the legal top speed is 55 knots, governed by Part 103 regulations. The aircraft's design allows for a transition from hover to cruise by pushing the stick forward and pulling a trigger.
• 🌡️ Motor temperature is critical during hover; if motors overheat, pilots must transition back to cruise flight to reduce power demand and allow cooling.
• 🌊 The Blackfly is designed to be amphibious, capable of landing on water, and features a ballistic parachute for extreme emergencies, though it has reportedly not been needed on thousands of flights.
• 🛬 Even with a failed motor, the aircraft can maintain flight and land safely, demonstrating a high degree of redundancy and safety, with the pilot needing to recognize and react to such failures.