Trek Aerospace FlyKart 1 (prototype)

(Photo credit: Trek Aerospace)

FlyKart 1 (prototype)
Trek Aerospace, Inc.
Folsom, California, USA
www.trekaero.com

Trek Aerospace, Inc. is a small engineering company based in Folsom, California, USA. Founded on March 18, 1996 as “Millennium Jet, Inc.”, the company changed their name to Trek Aerospace on July 3, 2002 because people thought the company was building jets. To clarify, SoloTrek was a name for certain models of Trek Aerospace's aircraft. SoloTrek was never the name of the company. The company is dedicated to understanding and improving shrouded propeller performance and efficiency. In the process, they developed their own proprietary CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) software, TASPA (Trek Aerospace Shrouded Propeller Analysis).

The company has stated all of their aircraft designs are very flexible when it comes to scalability, electric motors used, propeller types and the type of power source used. That is, all previous conventionally powered aircraft the company has created can be converted to eVTOL aircraft and can be updated with the latest in avionics, electronics, propellers and electric (all batteries or hybrid-electric) power sources. All of the company's aircraft have been designed for advanced air mobility (AAM).

The company has designed and made multiple vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft including its exoskeleton backpack "helicopters" using shrouded propellers in the airframe design. Some articles refer to the exoskeleton backpack helicopter as a jetpack, even though there are no jet engines involved in the backpack aircraft. The company has also designed and made watercraft. Trek Aerospace also assists and teams with other companies, large and small, in the design, fabrication, and licensing of projects involving shrouded propellers and/or autonomous control systems. For example, Trek Aerospace built XTI Aircraft Company's TriFan subscale proof of concept (POC) aircraft.

Trek Aerospace Shrouded Propeller Analysis
Testing at NASA and university wind tunnels has validated the accuracy of the Trek Aerospace Shrouded Propeller Analysis (TASPA). Flight testing of both crewed and uncrewed vehicles has further verified the real-world applications of Trek’s technology. The company states their core technology has the highest specific thrust (lb/kW) in the industry. Aircraft designed by Trek define the efficiency curve used in the UBER Elevate white paper.

This efficiency allows aircraft to carry more weight in a smaller footprint. According to the company, their shrouded propellers require less power, use fewer batteries, have a greater payload and have a farther range than other battery powered aircraft. Furthermore, the company states their shrouded propellers have outperformed similar free propellers to airspeeds in excess of 230 mph (371 km/h), negating much of the drag penalty associated with ducted propellers.

FlyKart 1 one passenger eVTOL prototype multicopter
In 2011, Trek Aerospace began toying with the idea of making a “flying go-kart” (i.e., FlyKart). The initial goals for FlyKart were quite simple: safe, reliable, lightweight, low-cost, quiet, easy to build and fun. As the concept matured, more specific goals came into play, such as FAA Part 103 ultralight, holds one passenger, has a cruise speed that is less than 63 mph (101 km/h), fits in a one car garage, the cost lower than $20,000.00 USD and sold as a kit. Construction finally began in 2015.

The first flight was a remotely piloted uncrewed and untethered flight that took place on May 18, 2016. The aircraft was shipped to Perth, Australia for more flight testing in a less restricted airspace for experimental aircraft and because an investor was living in Perth. The investor made many flights and the company learned a great deal from this prototype which helped design and manufacture the FlyKart 2 prototypes.

The multicopter had an open cockpit and could be flown remotely or piloted. There was an option for the pilot to fly the aircraft on with autopilot controls. The cruise speed was 56 mph (93 km/h) and had a maximum speed of 61 mph (98 km/h). The flight time was 43 minutes. The aircraft had eight ducted propellers, had eight electric motors and was powered by battery packs. The airframe was aluminum and had fixed tricycle wheeled landing gear. One variation had fixed quadricycle wheeled landing gear on the airframe.

Specifications:

• Aircraft type: eVTOL passenger aircraft
• Piloting: 1 pilot with autopilot capability or by remote control
• Cruise speed: 56 mph (93 km/h)
• Maximum speed: 61 mph (98 km/h)
• Flight time: 43 minutes
• Empty Weight: 225 lb (102 kg)
• Maximum payload weight: 175 lb (79 kg)
• Maximum takeoff Weight: 400 lb (181 kg)
• Propellers: 8 ducted propellers, 16” diameter (406 mm)
• Electric motors: 8 electric motors (7.0 kW)
• Power source: Battery packs (14.4 kWh each)
• Fuselage: Aluminum
• Cockpit: Open cockpit
• Width:  6 ft (1.83 m)
• Length: 5.88 ft (1.79 m)
• Height: 3.67 ft (1.12 m)
• Landing gear: Fixed tricycle wheeled landing gear
• Safety Features: Distributed Electric Propulsion (DEP) uses multiple propellers or electric ducted fans, each powered by electric motors, to increase safety through redundancy. If one or more components fail, the remaining ones can still ensure a safe landing. There are also redundancies of critical components in the sub-systems of the aircraft providing safety through redundancy. Having multiple redundant systems on any aircraft decreases having any single point of failure. The aircraft had multiple battery packs, if one or two battery packs failed, the aircraft could still land safely. The pilot's seat had a four point safety harness. The aircraft also had an autopilot feature.

Related Aircraft:

• Trek Aerospace Dragonfly (prototype)
• Trek Aerospace DuoTrek 1.0 (concept design)
• Trek Aerospace DuoTrek 2.0 (concept design)
• Trek Aerospace Elesi (concept design)
• Trek Aerospace FlyKart 2 (prototype)
• Trek Aerospace FlyKart 3 (prototype)
• Trek Aerospace LogDrone (concept design)
• Trek Aerospace Mule (concept design)
• Trek Aerospace Nightingale (concept design)
• Trek Aerospace Nytngale (concept design)
• Trek Aerospace OAV-II (concept design)
• Trek Aerospace OVIWUN (production model)
• Trek Aerospace Scorpion (concept design)
• Trek Aerospace SoloTrek Springtail (prototype)
• Trek Aerospace SoloTrek XFV (prototype)
• Trek Aerospace SoloTrek XFVC (concept design)
• Trek Aerospace SoloTrek XFVM (concept design)
• Trek Aerospace Tern (concept design)
• Trek Aerospace Tyrannos (concept design)

Company Insights:

• Crunchbase

Resources:

• Trek Aerospace website
• Trek Aerospace Twitter
• Trek Aerospace LinkedIn
• Trek Aerospace Wikipedia
• Article: Meet the Teams: Trek Aerospace, Stage 1 Winner, Go Aero, Mar. 18, 2025