Overair: The Silent Force in eVTOL Propulsion Leading the Next Flight Revolution
While many eVTOL companies race toward flashy launches and crowded airspace, Overair is perfecting the one thing that matters most: propulsion. Born from decades of defense aviation expertise, Overair is building Butterfly—a quiet, powerful, ultra-efficient air taxi designed to handle dense cities, extreme climates, and everything in between.
Based in Santa Ana, California, and spun out from a defense innovator, Overair combines aerospace precision with electric vision, proving that the future of flight can be whisper-quiet, high-performance, and safer than ever imagined.
The Founders: From Military Flight to Civilian Future
Overair’s roots go back to Karem Aircraft, the company founded by renowned aerospace engineer Abe Karem—best known as the “father of the Predator drone.” In 2018, Ben Tigner, a veteran aerospace executive and test pilot, co-founded Overair as a spinout to take Karem’s advanced propulsion tech into the civilian eVTOL market.
With backing from Hanwha Systems, a global defense and electronics giant from South Korea, Overair brings together military-grade engineering with a mission to serve everyday passengers.
“Our goal was never just to fly—it was to fly quietly, safely, and at scale,” says Tigner, now CEO. “Butterfly is built from the ground up for real-world operation.”
The Tech: Butterfly — Quiet Power with Tilt Rotor Precision
Overair’s aircraft, the Butterfly, is a sleek, electric air taxi designed for urban air mobility with a twist: it’s one of the quietest, most stable aircraft in the sector.
Butterfly Specs at a Glance:
Capacity: 1 pilot + 5 passengers
Top Speed: ~200 mph (320 km/h)
Range: 100+ miles (~160 km)
Propulsion: 4 large, slow-turning propellers with variable-pitch rotors
Noise: Sub-55 dBA during cruise—quieter than most dishwashers
Flight Type: VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) with hover & fixed-wing modes
The unique rotor design uses slow-rotating, large-diameter propellers, which reduce noise and increase efficiency, particularly in hover—a critical advantage in cities where sound pollution is a major barrier to adoption.
Butterfly also features power redundancy, crashworthiness, and all-weather adaptability, ensuring safe operation in real-world environments.
Mission: Silence. Safety. Scalability.
Overair’s mission is simple but powerful: create a flight experience that’s safe, quiet, and deployable in the real world—not just ideal conditions.
Ultra-Quiet Urban Mobility: Designed for city integration with minimal disruption
Reliable All-Weather Operation: Stability in wind, heat, and poor visibility
Sustainability: 100% electric, with no operating emissions
Community-First Design: Infrastructure-light and helipad-ready
Passenger Experience: Focused on comfort, space, and serenity
With these advantages, Overair sees Butterfly not just as an air taxi—but as urban infrastructure in motion.
Key Partnerships & Public Demonstrations
Hanwha Systems: Strategic partner and major investor, bringing avionics, radar, and global supply chain integration
City of Seoul: Partnered for UAM (Urban Air Mobility) demonstrations as part of South Korea’s smart city roadmap
U.S. Department of Defense (via Karem heritage): Long history of funding and testing tilt-rotor tech
NASA Advanced Air Mobility Project: Participating in joint R&D on airspace integration and propulsion modeling
Joint Base Demonstrations: Overair has participated in live flight events with military and civic authorities
Flight Testing & Certification Timeline
Prototype Flight Testing: Conducted successful full-scale hover tests in 2023
Full Flight Tests: Scheduled throughout 2024 and 2025
FAA Type Certification Target: 2026, with piloted commercial operations to follow
Planned Services: Airport shuttles, medical delivery, VIP urban routes, and public transport augmentation
Why Ceekers Should Watch Overair
For Ceekers—tech creatives, metaverse builders, and immersive travel visionaries—Overair delivers more than transport:
Immersive Soundscapes: Butterfly is ultra-quiet, making it ideal for in-flight entertainment, immersive AR/VR experiences, or wellness journeys
Resilient Design: Great for smart cities that demand performance in unpredictable weather
Eco-Integration: Fits into green urban planning without disrupting communities
Scalable Infrastructure: Can land on existing helipads, rooftops, or compact vertiports—no massive new buildout required
Defense-Grade Safety: Built with the same rigor as battlefield tech, but for peace-time skies
Looking Ahead
Overair is quietly redefining what urban air mobility can be—not the loud, flashy version of flying cars, but the calm, capable, and real one. With strong backing, next-gen tech, and a focus on what passengers actually want, Butterfly is getting ready to lift off—and land gracefully into the future.
PhotoCredit: Overair (USA)
