Rafi Yoeli

Rafi Yoeli, Ph.D., is an Israeli inventor who is striving to create a flying car. Yoeli was a Founder and Managing Director of AD&D, Ltd. (Aero Design & Development), a group leader at Israel Aircraft Industries, and a Senior Engineer at Boeing Aircraft. Yoeli was born in Tel Aviv. He serves as a reserve officer in the Israeli Air Force.

Dreaming at first of a sports car type of flying car, Yoeli realized that a car modeled after a rescue vehicle would sell much sooner and with much more success. Because of that dream, he has come up with a plan for a flying rescue vehicle that, while still able to hover, will not have the restrictions that helicopters have because of their rotors, enabling his flying car to work in crowded terrains such as cities and urban areas, where rescue would normally be much harder or impossible. He founded Urban Aeronautics Ltd., to officially develop his concept in a professional manner.

Yoeli recently said in an interview with the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet that his flying car, called the X-Hawk, will be developed for military purposes as well as personal ones, since Israel is a militarily-active country. The flying car is scheduled to arrive on the private market in 2020 and will cost around $3.2 million USD.