Authors: Ben Ruhe
Date Submitted: November 30, 2003
Article Type: Journal

It looks like a boxkite, but flies without a string. What is it? A Voltair Cube, that’s what, a radio-controlled airplane that has been giving a lot of people fun across the U.S.

Invented by Dr. Lance Liotta, a research scientist at the National Cancer Institute, the device is built and marketed by Dan Prentice, of kite fame. Prentice formerly published American Kite magazine and for more than two decades has been marketing kiting materials.

Prentice took up the challenge of the Voltair three years ago because he saw it as blending the pleasures of kiteflying with the freedom of radio control. Stable, easy to fly, durable, the 19-inch wingspan, battery-operated Voltair has a hitch to it——it requires almost dead calm to fly. A solution here is to fly indoors, if one can find a large enough space. Also, the little bird is expensive—–about $400 with electronics installed and ready to fly. It is available in kit form also.

PDF Link: Journal Issue