“OK, Andy. You’re good to go.” It’s my flight instructor speaking to me over the radio in my helmet.

“Really?” I think to myself. “Is this actually happening?”

I’m about to do something my instructor tells me less than 100 people on the planet have done: I will be piloting an eVTOL, an electric vertical take-off and landing vehicle. Imagine a small plane or helicopter crossed with a drone. And here’s the kicker:

I have never flown another airplane in my life.

But it’s just so Silicon Valley-based Pivotal believe it could crack the recreational aviation market: With an aircraft so easy to fly that almost anyone can learn with a few days of training on a simulator.

“It’s actually incredibly difficult to do anything that’s going to give you a bad result in one of these airplanes,” said Pivotal CEO Ken Karklin. “Today’s technology has allowed us to take an aircraft with much more capability, at least technically, and put it in the hands of an ultralight operator.”

An ultralight aircraft has only one seat, is used only for recreational purposes, and may or may not be powered. A powered ultralight aircraft must weigh less than 254 pounds according to Federal Aviation Administration guidelines. They do not require certification to operate, although they cannot be flown over populated areas. Still, anyone who wants to buy a $190,000 aircraft from Pivotal must complete training on a simulator led by instructors from the company. The training usually takes about 10 days. (Full transparency, I completed an abbreviated version of the training, which limited the types of flying I was allowed to do.)

The single-seat aircraft I’m sitting in is Pivotal’s fourth-generation preproduction eVTOL, called the BlackFly. It is painted in a sleek black and is made of a full fiber composite with a bubble roof. Blackfly is powered by eight electric motors with four propellers on each wing. Since it takes off and lands vertically, there are no wheels or any kind of landing gear. On the landing pad, the BlackFly rests on the fuselage and front wing.

Next year, Pivotal expects to deliver its first production model aircraft, the Helix, to customers. This new model is similar to the Blackfly, but Pivotal says the hardware inside has been redesigned for better efficiency and scalability.

Pivotal won’t say how many orders it has taken for the Helix yet. It has sold 13 BlackFlys since the first one was delivered to a customer in June 2023. While the company hopes to woo people like me, with no flying experience, it says even seasoned pilots show “incredible enthusiasm” after flying a BlackFly.

“This is a different kind of airplane, one they can fly out of their backyard. They don’t have to go to the airfield.” says Karklin.

Inside the BlackFly cockpit

Pivotal, backed by Google co-founder Larry Page, uses what is known as fly-by-wire technology in its eVTOLs. This means that there are computers between the controls in the cockpit and the physical components that move the aircraft. Fly-by-wire systems make the aircraft easier to maneuver and reduce weight.

The cockpit is simple and cozy. There are two identical, redundant joysticks on either side, so a pilot can use whichever hand they prefer. In front of me is a touchscreen pad that displays real-time information such as altitude, airspeed, engine temperatures and battery levels.

Next to the touchscreen is a steering wheel that I spend a lot of time looking at. When you pull it, the ballistic parachute deploys. Although part of my training included learning to use the parachute on a model, Pivotal tells me that no pilot has had to use it in more than 7,000 real flights. Still, for now I’m glad it’s there.

Despite some nerves, I feel confident after three days on the simulator and having done an evaluation. I ask my flight instructor, Sabrina Alesna, who is also a fixed-wing pilot, how her first time flying a BlackFly was.

“I was shocked at how responsive it was,” she says. “I’m used to constantly putting in inputs to maintain my altitude or airspeed. But this airplane does all the work for you.”

My first flight

My first flight is pretty easy. Alesna tells me to take off to 40 feet above the pad, yaw (rotate) left, yaw right, then land. When I’m done, I take a deep breath and step on the gas. The eight engines revving up sound like a swarm of bees. After about 3 seconds I feel a jolt and I’m pushed back into my seat as the BlackFly tears off the ground. It feels similar to the simulator, but more aggressive.

I forget that I’m supposed to stop at 40 feet in the air, and when I take my thumb off the throttle I’m about 50 feet. Once I’m done, I look out to my left. The reality of being in a flying airplane alone hits me, but I remind myself that I’ve done this dozens of times in the simulator.

After a few seconds of hovering, I complete my yaws and start the landing process. All I have to do is pull back on the throttle, until I’m about 10 mats above the ground. At that point the computer tells me that the “auto-land” function is available, which I can now initiate. BlackFly does the rest of the work for me, and I pound the ground.

My next three flights will be longer and more complex. Watch the video above to see them and learn more about the training process.

After the first flight, we have to let the engines cool down, but I’m ready to go again right away. With a big grin on my face, I turn to the GoPro camera facing me and say, “That was so much fun.”