Rachel and I had just flown into Las Vegas for an exclusive first look at the Silicon Valley single-seat flying machine, Flyer.

Kitty Hawk, funded by Google cofounder Larry Page and led by Thrun, a self-driving car pioneer, attracted nationwide attention when it teased its Flyer prototype last year.

But now Rachel was suiting up to become the first reporter to take flight in a new, sleeker model -- no pilot license required. Expectedly, she was nervous and I was relieved it wasn't me sitting in the pilot's seat. The 250-pound vehicle resembles a cross between a drone and a pontoon plane. Ten propellers twirled around her as I watched from 50 feet away.