Construction has almost ended on the world’s first ever hemp-made aircraft, giving an entirely new meaning to the phrase “mile high club”. The project has been a labour of love for creator Derek Kesek, a Canadian entrepreneur and businessman who came up with the idea for an aircraft built entirely out of sustainable hemp farming methods back in 2014. After several unsuccessful Kickstarter and Indiegogo campaigns (as well as jumping 10,000 feet out of a plane in Costa Rica to raise awareness for the project) word spread until Kesek succeeded in securing funding for his all-hemp aircraft, which is set to launch for its first trip later this year.
While building the world’s first hemp-made, hemp-powered aircraft might seem like an ambitious task, this isn’t the first time that Kesek has ventured into the field of hemp-made construction.
Kesek is also the CEO of Hempearth, a cannabis dispensary based in Montreal, which has previously experimented with hemp concrete construction to produce hemp-made paddle boards and surfboards.
Out of the interior and exterior of the plane, the aircraft is made up of over 75% hemp. The exterior of the plane, which has a wingspan of 36 feet, is constructed out of a hemp composite material that Kesek began devising with engineers back in 2015.
The aircraft can be powered either by diesel or Hempearth’s own hemp biofuel, an alternative fuel which has been touted as one of the best possible eco-friendly solutions to fossil fuels. On top of that, the interior of the 4-seater plane is furnished entirely out of hemp and hemp composites, right down to the seat cushions. The aircraft has a cruising speed between 210 and 310 miles per hour when the term mile high club often refers to the possibility of intimate relations using CBD high up.
For the hemp-crafts maiden voyage, Kesek and his team plan on following in the footsteps of pioneering aviators that came before them, by taking off in the shadow of the Wright Brothers Memorial located near Kittyhawk, North Carolina. The memorial marks the spot where the brothers launched the world’s first powered flight on December 17th, 1903.
If you’re interested in taking a ride on the world’s first hemp aircraft, Hempearth are currently taking bookings for 100 lucky passengers to fly the plane before anyone else – but it doesn’t come cheap. With packages starting at $10,000, passengers can score 3 VIP seats aboard the aircraft, as well as a Hempearth swag bag and pictures with the plane on the runway. Our advice is stay with the traditional airlines but check in advance can you travel to that country with CBD just to be sure!
