# What Tesla and our FPS® have in common – and what they don’t | Jetoptera

- Canonical URL: https://wefunder.com/feed/429593
- Entity ID: wefunder:feed_item:429593
- Published at: 2026-10-20 11:44:47 UTC
- Updated at: 2026-10-20 23:50:39 UTC

## Author
Andrei Tristan Evulet

## Subject
Jetoptera

## Content
Last Thursday, Elon Musk and the Tesla/SpaceX team put on a spectacular presentation. They unveiled a new Roadster, which drove upside down on a suction fan, then used cold-gas thrusters to roll, hop, and settle back onto the ground. If you haven’t seen it, you can check it out here.The Roadster also jumped a line of parked Teslas (including the Tesla semi) without a ramp, and it went 0-60 mph in under one second. As Elon noted, the thrusters let the car “fly like a rocket” for short bursts, and enable smooth, controlled landings. The Roadster demo was a brilliant, high-energy showcase of what short bursts of compressed air can do to steer a car and launch a dramatic hop.At Jetoptera, we’re building the continuous, long-duration version of that idea for aircraft. Our approach relies on the same physics as the Tesla Roadster; the difference is how long the thrust lasts and how efficiently and quietly it is produced and delivered.Tesla’s system stores a fixed charge of air, about 600 liters or roughly 250 kg, in two carbon-overwrapped pressure tanks, and releases it in brief, high-intensity bursts. Tesla stated that the thrusters produce over 80 kN of thrust, combined. Independent analyses put full-thrust duration at 1.5 to 2 seconds and practical hover time at a few seconds at most, before pressure and thrust drop sharply. The air can be refilled onboard, but refilling is slow and energy-hungry, and it requires a lot of heavy equipment (compressors) and a big tank.We use compressed air differently. Rather than using stored compressed air, our Fluidic Propulsive System® (FPS®) produces compressed air continuously and efficiently in flight, then uses it to augment the primary jets. The result is sustained vertical capability and thrust augmentation, without carrying high-pressure tanks sized for only a few seconds of full output. Storing air at those pressures (historical references point to around 10,000 psi; demo telemetry suggests nearer 5,500 psi) takes heavy, strongly built tanks, and that weight stays on board after the air is gone.Operations look different, too. The Roadster’s supersonic cold-gas jets are powerful (think Mach 4 or more), and that power comes with extremes. Exit temperatures drop dramatically (the white appearance of the plumes is mostly condensed atmospheric moisture from the rapid cooling to negative 280F... or colder) and reports describe noise peaks above 140 dBA near the source, consistent with high-pressure supersonic jet noise (that noise will pierce an eardrum if you are close to it).Our FPS® keeps the jets mildly heated, targets under 50 dBA at 400 ft, and stays quieter than an equivalent rotorcraft while still delivering useful vertical thrust for the hover and VTOL segments of a mission. That combination suits street-legal, neighborhood-friendly, and extended operational use.We applaud the Tesla team for utilizing compressed air for such fantastical feats, and we look forward to a day when we can wow our fans in a similar way at a future Jetoptera product launch! 🚀Be part of the future of flight, powered by efficiently and sustainably compressed air. Invest now or increase your investment at wefunder.com/jetoptera.