MOST OF THE AIRCRAFT CONCEPTS BEING DESIGNED FOR URBAN AIR MOBIL- ity take off and land vertically, like helicopters. But a California startup launched in 2019 by five former Airbus staffers who worked on that firm's Vahana project aims to build something much more like a traditional airplane. Airflow, based in San Francisco, announced an ambitious vision for creating an aerial logistics network to move cargo quickly and efficiently over distances ranging from 20 to 500 miles, known in the supply chain logistics world as "middle-mile logistics." The founders believe that electric short takeoff and landing aircraft can more efficiently address many of the needs of urban air mobility, and cargo transportation, than electric vertical takeoff and landing designs. Airflow co-founder and CEO Marc Ausman said that he and fellow team members believe they can shave about $500 million off the cost of developing a new aircraft simply by switching from eVTOL to eSTOL, and relying more heavily on proven components and designs rather than creating something that looks like it flew off the set of a science fiction movie.
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