Posted on 01/26/2022 12:53:33 PM PST by Twotone
A hybrid car-airplane known as “AirCar” has been issued a certificate of airworthiness by the Slovakian civil aviation authority, potentially paving the way for the future of flying vehicles.
The dual-mode car-aircraft vehicle, which looks like a sports car, was created by a team of eight highly-skilled specialists at the Slovakian company Klein Vision, which was founded by Professor Stefan Klein.
Klein has devoted the last 20 years to making the flying car a reality.
It was awarded the certificate by the Slovak Transport Authority after successfully completing 70 hours of “rigorous flight testing compatible with European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) standards,” Klein Vision said in a statement (pdf).
Flight tests included over 200 takeoffs and landings and a full range of various flight and performance maneuvers that Klein Vision says demonstrated “astonishing static and dynamic stability in the aircraft mode.”
The takeoff and landing procedures were achieved even without the pilot having to touch the flight controls, the company said.
It took the team of specialists over 100,000 man hours to convert design drawings of the air vehicle into mathematical models and to then create the final two-seater 1,000-kilogram (2,200-pound) vehicle that is powered by a 1.6-liter BMW engine.
(Excerpt) Read more at theepochtimes.com ...
I love the ridiculous threads, but somehow, recently, Freepers are not as funny as they used to be.
My thoughts exactly. Less of a “flying car” and more like a “roadable aircraft”.
I want to see an LA police chase with this thing on the interstate sprouting its wings and flying away.
That’s a good way of putting it. And wait until the left figures out how many different ways to tax it.
Personal drones will kill this idea.
If the drivers will fly like they drive on the highways now, I want no part of that.
“More appropriately, pilots are trained in six degrees of freedom, three translational and three rotational.”
Still only 3 dimensions. OTOH, I have to deal with these in my car. But not to the extent Bullitt did.
In the USA you can keep it at your house if you wish, but you will only take off and land from an approved airfield, be that a grass strip or a paved runway. This sophisticated AirCar will not be permitted to take off, fly and land willy-nilly. There are safety regs that must be obeyed. I foresee the need for a pilot’s license exactly the same as for a Cessna 152 and up, with approved avionics, radios, etc. Not to mention that the machine itself will cost several hundred thousand dollar$. The barnstorming days of the Wrights or even Lindburgh are ancient history. The skies and airways are crowded. Anyone who flies anything beyond a motorized hang glider will need to have proven skills and abide by strict safety standards. Anything else would be pandemonium, with gerry-rigged contraptions falling out of the sky, causing bloody injuries and destroying property. Just my opinion as a former private pilot.
What could possibly go wrong?
Looks very aerodynamic. Not.
Why fly by car when you can use a drone to fly to your exact destination.
It’s pretty cool looking. I watched the video. I wonder where they got the computer chips.
Have you seen my wife drive.....er fly?
This will NEVER be a reality, especially after 9/11.
We cannot trust people on an individual basis to fly responsibly.
The concept of a flying car for the masses will never see the light of day!
Ugh... the FAA in general has done more to stifle innovation and safety since it’s inception than anything else imaginable.
Makes you wonder where we’d be if Henry Ford’s vision for civil aviation had come true.
Stubby wings. Bet it’s got quite a sink rate.
I always wanted an auto-gyro.
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