Opener is a Canadian flying car company that just recently came out of “stealth mode”, after it was discovered that Google co-founder Larry Page is a major investor in the startup. It’s always good press when one of the titans of silicon valley believes strongly in your vision. And Opener’s vision is straightforward: flying cars. Their hope is to bring their VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) craft to market, and they have over 12,000 miles and 1,400 trips to backup their experience.

Opener’s homepage message:

We spend too much time confined to a two-dimensional network of concrete and asphalt. The dream of futurists has always been a flying vehicle capable of efficiently moving passengers from A to B.

Opener is realizing this dream in an affordable, safe, easy-to-operate, vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) vehicle: BlackFly.

Opener’s BlackFly heralds a new era of aviation. Time and money spent traveling and maintaining infrastructure will be reduced. People will go places they never thought possible.

The vehicle itself looks almost nothing like vintage visions of flying cars, and more like the drones we commonly see being used for photography and video. The Blackfly is entirely electric, with a range of 25 miles and equipped with a number of safety systems, from triple redundant backup motors, low power glide mode, and even a ballistic parachute.

Author

Ben VanderVeen is the founder and editor of Moss & Fog, one of the web’s longest-running visual culture destinations. Since 2009, he’s been finding and framing the most beautiful, surprising, and thought-provoking work in art, architecture, design, and nature — reaching over 325,000 readers each month. He lives in Portland, Oregon.

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