World first: a flying taxi flies over the Palace of Versailles

It lasted less than five minutes. This Sunday, August 11, 2024, shortly after sunrise, a small aircraft flew over the park of Palace of Versailles (Yvelines), at the level of the Grand Trianon. It was in facta prototype of a flying taxi manufactured by Volocopter, a German startup specializing in the field, and carried out in partnership with the ADP group.

A world first in a symbolic place for aeronautics. It was in fact in the park of the Palace of Versailles, on September 19, 1783, that the the Montgolfier brothers’ hot air balloonthe first flying machine in history.

“It was magical!”

The aim of this flight without passengers was to ” test the flexibility of this vehicleexplains Sébastien Couturier, director of Le Bourget airport and general aviation aerodromes at ADP. With each flight, we learn new things.

Professional test pilot at Volocopter, Olivier Renard had the privilege of carrying out this test above the Palace of Versailles.

“I was amazed. With the rising sun, it was magical! There is no noise from the turbine. You press a button and it goes up.”

Three days earlier, first four experimental flights had already been carried out a few kilometers away, at the Saint-Cyr-l’École aerodrome, where ADP installed a “vertiport” capable of receiving these devices.

A vertical take-off vehicle, this electric device cango at 100 km/h. And it is intended to be “four times less noisy than a helicopter,” assures Sébastien Couturier. “We took measurements with Bruitparif, the regional organization,” he adds. “The noise footprint is drastically less than that of a helicopter. The noise fades quickly. You can have a conversation nearby.”

Problems with the engine

Initially, ADP and Volocopter had the ambition to ‘carry out flights with passengers’ in the sky of Paris on the occasion Olympic Games.

But administrative constraints have delayed the project. The EASA (European Union Aviation Safety Agency) has in fact “not given sufficient certification to fly over the Seine”, acknowledges Augustin de Romanet, CEO of ADP.

The fault of problems with electric motors of the aircraft. Manufactured by an American manufacturer, the engines were sent back to the United States for inspection. They should return in the coming days, around August 15.

A first flight “before December 8”

If they obtain commercial certification quickly, ADP and Volocopter hope to achieve a first flight by the end of 2024. “Before December 8 and the reopening of Notre Dame of Paris“, specifies the CEO. The device should take off from a barge on the Seine located at Quai d’Austerlitz.

A sanitary use

Initially conceived as an alternative to traffic jams, this flying machine, called VoloCity, should first serve in the health sector.

“We are working with the Assistance publique-Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP) to study medical use cases. This could be a way to move injured people and organs efficiently.”

In Germany, ADAC, the automobile club specialising in road safety and the protection of road users, has already purchased around a hundred copies of this device.

Commercial use is expected to follow in a second phase. “In extremely congested metropolises, it is a device that can provide servicesif instead of 3 hours you take 20 minutes…“, underlines Augustin de Romanet.

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