V1 Prototype First Liftoff
- Shane Rienks
- Jun 29
- 1 min read
RealPodRacer V1, our first 1/3 scale prototype, has lifted off.
It was rough. But it left the ground, and for a novel VTOL architecture, that is exactly what we were hoping for at this stage.
This prototype is not meant to be a finished vehicle. It is an early proof-of-architecture build meant to start answering the basic questions: can this layout lift, can it be controlled, and is there enough here to justify pushing into the next phase?
The first answer is yes.
RealPodRacer is an attempt to build something that feels different from the usual VTOL direction. Not an air taxi. Not a drone with seats. Not a sci-fi render with no path to hardware. We want to build a flying vehicle that feels closer to motorsport — mechanical, aggressive, emotional, and real.
V1 is the first step toward that.
Less than six days after posting the first liftoff video online, it passed 600,000 views and led to outreach from several individuals and companies interested in the project.
That obviously does not mean the architecture is solved. It does not mean this is easy, or practical, or anywhere close to a finished product. But it does show that people are paying attention. There seems to be real interest in a VTOL vehicle that does not look or feel like everything else being built in this space.
The next step is making it more stable, more repeatable, and better understood. There is a lot to fix, tune, and learn. That is the point of V1.
Now the real work starts.
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