Thirty-five feet above the Long Center in Downtown Austin, Greg Stoll was flying. Manning a 432-pound, carbon-fiber drone, Stoll took to the skies for the first time, to the awe of ogling pedestrians below. It was his 48th birthday, and instead of cake and candles, Stoll was experiencing the possible future of aviation at his fingertips.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Stoll has no pilot\u2019s license or really any flight experience, but after an hour of training, he was \u201cqualified\u201d to fly the aircraft all on his own. As he hovered through the air, Stoll yelled out, \u201cThis is almost too easy!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
For the last two years, Lift Aircraft<\/a> (no relation to the rideshare company, Lyft) has been offering the thrill of flight, with no pilot\u2019s license required. Temporarily nestled on the grounds of the Long Center, the personal aviation company is pioneering a new form of flight, for the fearless and tech-obsessed.\u00a0<\/p>\n Lift\u2019s battery-powered rotorcraft, HEXA<\/a>, is a single-operator Ultralight drone that can be flown with a simple joystick and touchscreen. With a ring of 18 propellers above an open-sided cabin, and six floats below (in case of a water landing), HEXA resembles the flying cars of The Jetsons. For just $199, customers can purchase a two-hour-long training and flight experience, flying HEXA on their own.<\/p>\n And that is just the beginning for Lift. In the next five years, the aircraft company is hoping to have a fully autonomous air-taxi program, where users can call a HEXA from their phone and take a pre-programmed \u201cride\u201d to their destination.<\/p>\n HEXA is the first electric aircraft in the U.S. to use electric vertical takeoff and landing technology (eVTOL) for pay-per-flight experiences. Unlike other eVTOL aviation companies, which are building much larger and heavier aircraft for cross-country travel, Lift\u2019s design is focused on making flight accessible to anyone.\u00a0<\/p>\n Lift\u2019s founder, Matt Chasen, has always loved to fly. Chasen began his career at Boeing with a mechanical engineering degree from the University of Texas and an internship at NASA under his belt. At Boeing, Chasen got his pilot\u2019s license and learned quickly how difficult, and expensive, it was to get started as a pilot. \u201cPeople want to fly, but traditional aviation is just not compatible with modern life,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n The idea for HEXA came about a decade ago, when he was building a small drone with his 10-year-old son. Chasen\u2019s son asked him, \u201cCan we build a big one of these, that, like, a person could fly in?\u201d He partnered with Hungarian aircraft engineers who were already designing Ultralight drones for personal flight, and together they began designing the aircraft.\u00a0<\/p>\n Since launching its first commercial flights in March 2024, Lift has been refining its operations, training, and design since. Chasen said the last few years have been about safety and efficiency. \u201cWe\u2019re kind of the food truck version of ourselves, you know? We\u2019re dialing in the recipes, and adjusting based on customer tastes, taking it slow,\u201d he said. Though, it may not be slow enough for some.\u00a0<\/p>\n As the Federal Aviation Administration continues to refine its regulations, Lift hopes to unlock new possibilities for its Ultralight and Light Sport HEXA models. Under current FAA standards, Lift\u2019s Ultralight model only allows people to fly the aircraft at controlled speeds up to 63 mph, with an altitude ceiling of 1,200 feet.\u00a0<\/p>\n However, Lift is in the process of obtaining<\/a> a new certification that will permit HEXA to fly over congested areas, like high-traffic roads, between airports, and over city centers. The Ultralight HEXA model, which customers can currently fly, can also be certified under the FAA\u2019s Light Sport category. It\u2019s the same aircraft, but with even greater possibilities for flight. This certification will require the pilot to hold a specified license for the aircraft, though Chasen said it may require only four or five hours of training.<\/p>\n Now, Chasen said, Lift is at a point where it is ready to expand. The company is working with the city of Austin to determine what the first Downtown air travel routes may be. Lift Aircraft has also been working with Austin-Travis County EMS to discuss how first responders could operate HEXA aircraft to respond to emergencies faster. \u201cIt\u2019s not just entertainment, this is just phase one,\u201d Chasen said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n