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Well yeah, it would be like a cheap helicopter you can rent. What is so bad about that.

"Cheap" and "Helicopter"

That's where the problem is.

It's certainly not crazy to imagine that you could cut the costs of a helicopter-like aircraft that was purpose-made for relatively short, relatively low-speed, relatively light load duties.

The energy cost during operations is very relevant, too, which is why you see things like tilt rotor designs with wings/bodies to generate lift.

When Airbus was doing the math on these a few years ago, the pilot cost was also one of the main concerns, so it was "autonomous or bust", and they ended up investing a lot on the autonomous side (not just the aircraft but also urban traffic management, etc).

It sucks when they hit airplanes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_Potomac_River_mid-air_col...

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