I don't know if they're afraid of gasoline. Being able to add the word 'green' to a product can be a big selling point.
Big enough to overcome the 20 min. projected dwell time? The thing I hate about these projects is they're never developed by anyone with any experience in aviation or aeronautical design. They're always dudes that fucked around with quadcopters and thought "shit, this stuff is simple, let's scale it up." I mean, not even the RC Heli guys bother. The private pilots don't bother. The RC fixed wing guys don't bother. And while there are fits and starts in electric light aircraft, they're generally from within the aviation industry and wholly unnoticed by the general public. Did you know, for example, that Cessna has been flying an electric 172 since 2011? I didn't.
Here's another crazy-ass Kiwi - he's been working on his flying machine for years. In spite of the name, it's a not a jetpack at all, it's a kind of personal helicopter; but at least he had the sense to go with IC engines for power.
Yeah I dunno, man. I still don't think you can beat the simplicity and elegance of the Williams X-Jet. The mill in that thing is in about 4,000 cruise missiles... there may come a day when they're cheap military surplus. Problem with the X-Jet is it'd only lift about 190 lbs... and since my ass is 200 without clothes onthat just doesn't fly (literally). Still - you replace the aluminum with carbon fiber, you do some latter-day weight reduction on the mill and... ...you're still staring down a 600 lbft thrust turbojet engine eager to suck you through. I have simpler tastes.
I think I'd enjoy the lack of noise in a glider more than anything else - all the small aircraft I've ever been in have been noisy as hell. Free as a bird.
Non-sequitur - I don't know if it's just me, but for the last day or two, I haven't seen any notifications on the website. I get email notifications, but my hubwheel-thingy doesn't turn orange, or show them - mk ?