The promise of personal flying machines has been around for decades. From flying cars to jetpacks, the future always seemed to promise a traffic-jam-free ride to work that left the roads far below. The truth of the matter is that personal flying machines (excluding private planes, of course) are not as simple as strapping a pack of volatile rocket fuel to your back and soaring off to work like something from, well... The Jetsons.

Now a pioneering company is the latest to claim that it can change the way we travel. Jetson's Jetson One is a personal aircraft, or, more correctly, an electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing vehicle (eVTOL). It's powered by eight electrical motors and built from aluminum and carbon fiber. Its prowess was demonstrated at 2025's UP.Summit. This is an airshow with a difference. UP.Summit is an invitation-only event that brings together 300 of the world's leading transport innovators. This year's event took place at Bentonville Municipal Airport, Arkansas, and also featured a community day when the summit opened its doors to the general public.

Among the star attractions of the open-day show was the world's first Jetson ONE race. The four-aircraft pylon race was designed to demonstrate the craft's technological maturity. Among the pilots taking part in the race was Tomasz Patan, Jetson's Chief Technical Officer and a co-founder of the company. While the personal aerial vehicle race certainly looked like a scene from a sci-fi film, Jetson is betting that the Jetson ONE becomes more than just an airshow curiosity and steps up to become a viable future transport option.