‘I Had No Engineering Degree’: Almora Mechanic’s Son Learnt From the Internet & Built a Flying Car

Ravi Tamta built HAPIDA SKYNeX, an electric flying vehicle prototype designed for short trips across difficult mountain terrain. Its vertical take-off and landing design means it does not need a runway. Tamta developed it after seeing how winding roads could delay people trying to reach hospitals.

The vehicle uses modified, scaled-up multirotor drone technology. Several electric motors and propellers sit on external arms. Together, they create lift, keep the vehicle hovering, and help control its movement. The prototype has a lightweight frame, a single-pilot cockpit, and a transparent canopy.

Its first major test came in August. HAPIDA SKYNeX took off from an army helipad in Almora and remained airborne for nearly a minute. The flight was an important early demonstration, but the prototype still needs testing for reliable control, battery endurance, structural strength, and safe responses to failures.

An electric vertical take-off and landing vehicle, or eVTOL, is designed to lift off and land straight up and down. It uses electric power rather than conventional aircraft propulsion. This allows it to rise from a compact landing area instead of first accelerating along a runway.

HAPIDA SKYNeX applies the basic idea of a multirotor drone to a vehicle intended to carry one person. Multiple electric motors spin propellers mounted on external arms. The propellers produce lift, support hovering, and help control movement. Its battery-powered propulsion produces no direct exhaust emissions during operation.

The technology could be useful in mountainous regions, where flat land for runways can be hard to find. However, eVTOL does not automatically mean ready for passengers. The prototype must still prove its flight control, battery performance, structural stability, and ability to handle component failures safely.

The proposed advantage is speed over difficult terrain. According to the project details, a journey of around 40 kilometres that takes approximately 90 minutes by mountain road could potentially be completed in 10 to 15 minutes by air. The vehicle would cover the same approximate distance in far less time.

The potential time saving is about 75 to 80 minutes. The calculation compares the 90-minute road journey with the intended 10-to-15-minute flight. HAPIDA SKYNeX is designed to travel directly across terrain instead of following winding roads, which explains why the route could be much faster.

These figures describe an intended travel-time goal, not an operational result. The prototype has completed only an initial flight lasting nearly a minute. Its real range and endurance will depend on battery capacity, vehicle weight, power requirements, weather, and other safety conditions.

Mountainous areas often make ordinary transport slow and difficult. Roads must wind around slopes, and a short distance on a map can become a long journey. Building or finding a conventional runway also requires suitable, relatively open land, which may be scarce in the hills.

A vertical aircraft avoids the runway problem. HAPIDA SKYNeX uses several electric motors and propellers to rise directly from the ground, hover, and descend vertically. Its planned use is short-distance travel across difficult terrain. A suitable helipad or landing area could potentially connect places that roads reach slowly.

This design could improve access, but it does not remove every challenge. Mountain flights can face changing weather and wind. Operators would also need reliable landing sites, emergency procedures, stable structures, and dependable batteries. The prototype therefore needs substantial further testing before regular use.

HAPIDA SKYNeX was inspired by a practical emergency problem. Ravi Tamta grew up near Jageswar Dham, where reaching a hospital could take hours on winding mountain roads. A vehicle that travels directly through the air could potentially reduce delays when someone needs medical attention.

Its vertical take-off and landing system is central to that idea. Multiple electric motors and propellers are designed to lift the vehicle, keep it hovering, and control its movement. The prototype is intended for short-distance travel over difficult terrain, including routes that are slow by road. The project also aims to make air travel more accessible in hilly regions.

The benefit remains prospective. The vehicle has completed a maiden flight of nearly a minute, not routine medical missions. Before carrying passengers, it must demonstrate reliable control, sufficient battery performance, structural stability, safe failure responses, suitable landing arrangements, and workable emergency procedures.

The article focuses on HAPIDA SKYNeX and does not describe other transport options. In practice, remote mountain communities may use helicopters or air ambulances for urgent passenger or medical travel. These can avoid blocked roads, but they require suitable operating conditions, trained crews, and high costs.

Ropeways or cable cars can connect settlements across steep terrain without following winding roads. Four-wheel-drive ambulances and other off-road vehicles can continue when ordinary roads are rough, although they may still be slowed or stopped by landslides, snow, floods, or damaged bridges. Emergency teams may also use smaller aircraft or drones to deliver medicines and supplies rather than people.

Each option has limits. Helicopters and other aircraft depend on weather and safe landing areas. Ropeways need major fixed infrastructure. Road vehicles need passable routes. HAPIDA SKYNeX is being developed as another possible short-distance option, but it remains an early prototype.

Electric motors turn the propellers, and the propellers push air downward. The reaction force pushes the vehicle upward. If the combined upward force is greater than the vehicle’s weight, it rises; if the forces balance, it can hover. This is the basic principle HAPIDA SKYNeX shares with multirotor drones.

Its battery supplies electrical energy to several motors. The motors spin propellers mounted on external arms. Changing the speed of individual propellers can alter the forces on different sides of the vehicle. That helps the pilot control lift, balance, hovering, and movement through the air. A lightweight frame also reduces the force needed to lift the vehicle.

Carrying a person makes the engineering harder. The batteries must store enough energy, and the motors must provide sustained power. Weight, battery capacity, and flight power affect range and endurance. The prototype still needs tests for stability and safe responses if components fail.