(Cobalt)
If you’re not familiar with Cobalt or its drop-dead-gorgeous Co50 Valkyrie personal plane, you’re about to be. The company just secured $50 million in pre-orders, meaning the skies are about to get a whole lot prettier.
Cobalt started off as a pet project for founder and CEO David Loury. An aerospace engineer-turned-entrepreneur and designer, the French-born CEO hopes Cobalt can change the pace for personal aircrafts. The Co50 Valkyrie was designed to do just that.
(Cobalt)
The $50 million in pre-orders were acquired in just 90 days following the aircraft’s launch on November 12, 2015. Along with this massive influx of cash from interested buyers, Cobalt also brought aboard former Delta pilot James Schwartz to command the test program for FAA certification.
“The Cobalt Valkyrie is a magnificent airplane and it has created a tremendous amount of much-deserved interest,” said Schwartz. “It’s a beautiful design, profoundly enjoyable to fly, and it will outperform anything in its class.”
(Cobalt)
Cobalt claims that among the many interested buyers, Silicon Valley entrepreneurs from both Google and Apple were among the first to order, as well as top-level executives from Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, and around the globe.
The plane itself starts off at a respectable $595,000 (dropping significantly from $700,000 at launch), and features a cruise range of 1,050 nautical miles. Cobalt is hoping to begin delivering planes to customers early-to-mid 2017.
(Jeff Perez - Boldride / Yahoo Business News)
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