Akihabara News (Tokyo) — Sky Link Technologies (SLT), a small private company based in Kobe, has emerged as another Japanese company aiming to develop its own original model of flying cars (eVTOL), in this case a six-seater aircraft.
While it is difficult to gauge at this juncture how seriously this initiative should be taken, this company is being promoted in conjunction with the 2025 World Expo in neighboring Osaka, perhaps with an eye toward attracting significant investment and other financial support for the project.
SLT’s ambitious concept is to build a tilt-wing lift and cruise aircraft which will have a flight range of about 1,400 kilometers. While the precise nature of its planned propulsion system has not been clarified, company leaders have mentioned a “micro gas turbine rotor.”
The company website further explains: “we prioritize environmental considerations by enabling the use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and plan to swiftly transition to fully electric operations once battery performance has improved sufficiently.”
According to the published timeline, the SLT aircraft will not be ready for the market until the 2030s.
The project’s roots go back to 2016 and the formation of a volunteer group called Personal Plane Kaihatsu Project (PPKP) which released some early concept images. A business license was obtained in 2019 and development became more earnest.
SLT is only now beginning to receive significant attention from the local media in the Kansai region. A feature story broadcast this week on Osaka television, for example, profiled SLT’s tests of a 1/6 scale model, focusing on the challenge of achieving flight stability during takeoff and landing.
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