RALEIGH — More than 100 people, including Gov. Roy Cooper, state lawmakers and leaders of the N.C. Department of Transportation, gathered at the State Highway Patrol's test track south of Raleigh Tuesday afternoon to witness a bit of aviation history.
They were there to see what was billed as North America's first public demonstration flight of a pilotless air taxi. As they braced themselves against a stiff northwest wind, the EH 216, a two-seat drone made by the Chinese company EHang, was parked some 500 feet away, down a slight hill, outside of their view.