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Kufei unveils Urban standing eVTOL alongside seated Dream aircraft
Kufei’s Urban is a single person, fully electric eVTOL designed to be flown standing, with an expected flight time of about 11 minutes for a 70 kilogram pilot. The company also introduced the seated Dream ST and Dream Pro, with Dream Pro rated for a 120 kilogram maximum payload, a 100 km/h top speed and up to 40 min...
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Key takeaways
- Kufei’s Urban is a single person, fully electric eVTOL designed to be flown standing, with an expected flight time of about 11 minutes for a 70 kilogram pilot.
- The company also introduced the seated Dream ST and Dream Pro, with Dream Pro rated for a 120 kilogram maximum payload, a 100 km/h top speed and up to 40 minutes of flight with a 70 kilogram pilot.
- Urban and Dream use Kufei’s NA80 dual redundant flight controller, which pairs independent control units and three aviation grade IMUs in each unit, alongside active and passive safety features.
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openai.comCreate a landscape editorial hero image for this Studio Global article: What did Hangzhou-based aircraft company Kufei unveil on August 21, 2026, regarding its Urban and seated Dream-series personal eVTOL aircraf. Article summary: Kufei (CoolFly) unveiled its single-person Urban standing eVTOL, the seated Dream series, and its NA80 flight-control system in Hangzhou. The “world’s first” label is the company’s claim: Urban is distinctive because its. Topic tags: general, general web, user generated, education. Style: premium digital editorial illustration, source-backed research mood, clean composition, high detail, modern web publication hero. Use reference image context only for broad subject, composition, and topical grounding; do not copy the exact image. Avoid: logos, brand marks, copyrighted characters, real person likenesses, fake screenshots, UI text, readable text, watermarks, cha
Kufei, also known as CoolFly, introduced three related pieces of its personal-aircraft platform at a product launch in Hangzhou: the standing Urban, the seated Dream series and the company’s in-house NA80 flight-control system. Urban is the headline product—a compact, fully electric aircraft that replaces a conventional cockpit and seat with a standing platform. 2
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The company describes Urban as the world’s first standing-position single-person eVTOL. That wording should be treated as Kufei’s product claim rather than an independently established industry verdict. Its more important distinction is practical: the pilot’s body becomes part of the aircraft’s control problem, making stability and movement compensation central to the design. 2
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Urban: a seatless, wingless personal aircraft
Urban has no wings or conventional cockpit. The pilot stands on a central platform, operates a forward joystick and is surrounded by enclosed or ducted propellers protected by a honeycomb-style structure. The layout gives the aircraft an “air skateboard” appearance while keeping the propulsion units shielded within the airframe. 3
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The standing posture creates a challenge that does not arise in the same way on a conventional seated multicopter. As the pilot shifts position, the combined center of gravity of the person and aircraft changes. Kufei says its control architecture is intended to compensate for those body movements and for external disturbances in real time. The company has also described a planned center-of-gravity sensing function that would detect movement, calculate the aircraft’s attitude and adjust individual thrust units accordingly. 5
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Kufei estimates that Urban can fly for about 11 minutes with a 70-kilogram pilot. That is an expected figure, not a universal operating time: payload, weather, battery condition and the operating environment can affect actual performance. 5
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Dream ST and Dream Pro take the seated approach
The Dream family uses a more familiar single-person multicopter configuration. The pilot sits in a central seat and uses a joystick to control direction and climb or descent. Kufei is positioning the range for recreational and experience-led uses rather than immediate mass-market commuting. 5
- Dream ST is the entry-level model, aimed principally at the U.S. ultralight market. Earlier company materials described it as a compact recreational aircraft with an estimated 20-to-30-minute flight time depending on pilot weight and conditions.
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- Dream Pro is the higher-performance model, with a stated 120-kilogram maximum payload, 100 km/h top speed and up to 40 minutes of flight with a 70-kilogram pilot.
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The company has identified entertainment flying, low-altitude tourism, outdoor exploration, yachts and enclosed parks as potential Dream applications. Urban is also expected to begin with experience-oriented uses, while Kufei presents its longer-term role as lightweight, compact and portable personal transportation. 5
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NA80 puts redundant control at the center
Both product lines use Kufei’s NA80 flight-control system. Its core architecture consists of two independent flight-control units operating redundantly. Each unit incorporates three aviation-grade inertial measurement units, or IMUs, which measure motion such as acceleration and angular rate. The units cross-check sensor data to identify drift or anomalies, and Kufei says the backup can take over within milliseconds if the primary control path fails. 4
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That redundancy is not the same as a guarantee of safe flight. It is one layer in a broader system intended to reduce the consequences of sensor or controller failures. Kufei describes additional active protections, including monitoring of pilot inputs, aircraft attitude, sensor health, battery status and the surrounding environment. The company also cites 360-degree sensing, obstacle avoidance, terrain assessment and limits on unsafe speed, altitude and tilt commands. 5
The passive protections described for the aircraft include safety airbags beneath the base and, for the relevant seated designs, a whole-aircraft parachute positioned behind the seat. Dream ST and Dream Pro are also described as using four-axis, eight-propulsor layouts, while Dream Pro includes redundancy in key power-supply elements. 5
Kufei says its avionics and manufacturing processes follow benchmarks associated with passenger-aircraft development, including harsh-environment testing, electromagnetic compatibility, component selection, vibration and impact resistance, quality control and lifecycle traceability. Those statements describe the company’s design standards; they should not be read as proof of conventional aircraft certification or an independent “military-grade” certification. 5
Demonstrations, deposits and the gap between testing and certification
Kufei cited a high-profile cold-weather demonstration as evidence of testing: a prototype Urban reportedly flew at the 2026 CCTV Spring Festival Gala’s Harbin sub-venue in temperatures below −30°C. The company also said that its products later attracted nearly 100 overseas consumer orders with paid deposits. Both figures are company-reported commercialization indicators, not independently verified sales or a substitute for regulatory approval. 5
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Ultralight rules may provide a simpler operating path in some markets, but the classification depends on the aircraft and the operation. In the United States, an aircraft and operation that meet the requirements of FAA Part 103 generally do not need standard airworthiness certification or a conventional pilot licence. That does not mean every personal eVTOL qualifies automatically: weight, speed, operating area and other Part 103 restrictions still matter, and local rules govern where and how the aircraft may be flown. 5
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Insurance adds another piece of the commercialization puzzle
Kufei says it has partnered with PICC and CPIC on a bundled insurance arrangement covering the aircraft, people aboard and third-party liability. The company characterizes the arrangement as an industry first. The partnership is notable because insurance is a practical requirement for consumer aviation, but the announcement alone does not establish the policy’s coverage limits, exclusions or availability in every market. 5
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What the launch means
Urban is less a conventional air taxi than an attempt to make a single-person aircraft compact enough for recreational experiences and, eventually, personal mobility. Its unusual standing layout creates a distinctive user experience and potentially reduces the visual and physical bulk associated with a cockpit, but it also makes weight-shift sensing and flight-control response especially important.
Dream offers the more conventional path: a seated pilot, a joystick and a product split between an entry-level ultralight-oriented model and a longer-endurance, higher-payload Pro version. Across both lines, Kufei is emphasizing redundancy, protective systems, insurance and market testing as it moves from demonstration flights toward consumer use. The open questions are whether the claimed specifications hold up in independent testing, how regulators classify each model and whether paid deposits become sustained deliveries.
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What is the short answer to "Kufei unveils Urban standing eVTOL alongside seated Dream aircraft"?
Kufei’s Urban is a single person, fully electric eVTOL designed to be flown standing, with an expected flight time of about 11 minutes for a 70 kilogram pilot.
What are the key points to validate first?
Kufei’s Urban is a single person, fully electric eVTOL designed to be flown standing, with an expected flight time of about 11 minutes for a 70 kilogram pilot. The company also introduced the seated Dream ST and Dream Pro, with Dream Pro rated for a 120 kilogram maximum payload, a 100 km/h top speed and up to 40 minutes of flight with a 70 kilogram pilot.
What should I do next in practice?
Urban and Dream use Kufei’s NA80 dual redundant flight controller, which pairs independent control units and three aviation grade IMUs in each unit, alongside active and passive safety features.