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A flying car is closer to take off. Now that the Federal Aviation Administration has allowed the vehicle to be certified in the Light Sports Aircraft category, it can operate on asphalt and in the air. That's a key clearance sought by its developers since the project began in 2006, reports Motor Trend . The two-seater vehicle is 110 pounds over the limit for Light Sports Aircraft, but the FAA said the car-plane can still be sold as long as customers are advised about this extra weight. Developers also sought the FAA classification so potential pilots would only need 20...

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:Section 1. Purpose. Unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), otherwise known as drones, enhance United States productivity, create high-skilled jobs, and are reshaping the future of aviation. Drones are already transforming industries from logistics and infrastructure inspection to precision agriculture, emergency response, and public safety. Emerging technologies such as electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft promise to modernize methods for cargo delivery, passenger transport, and other advanced air mobility capabilities.The United States must accelerate the safe commercialization of...

A UFO whistleblower who testified last year before Congress praised President Donald Trump’s recent executive order on unmanned aircraft systems as “fantastic.” Speaking to Chris Cuomo on News Nation’s “Cuomo” on Friday, Luis Elizondo praised Trump's order for finally listening to the American people. “The bottom line is, we don’t know what’s in our skies, and drones continue to be an issue,” Elizondo said, “It’s fantastic that this administration is taking this quite seriously. We have been calling for the creation of a task force for some time. And I think that it’s great news that government is finally listening...

President Donald Trump signed several executive orders on Friday, lifting regulations on aviation technology and working to boost American manufacturing of drones. The trio of orders lifts regulations that had made domestic production of drones costly, prioritizes the usage of American-made drones by federal agencies and provides for the creation of a grant program for U.S. authorities to buy drones, according to NOTUS. The American drone industry had in recent years been struggling to compete with that of China, The Wall Street Journal reported. “Red tape has hindered homegrown drone innovation, restricting commercial drone use and burdening their development,” Michael...

Rolls-Royce breaks all luxury limits and unveils new engine: the end of hydrogen with something better The first biomass engine in history beats hydrogen: It’s submersible, and no one understands how it works This engine was a prediction a century ago, and it runs on steam: It’s the end of EVs and FCEVs Nowadays, cars use batteries and motors to move, however, this way of movement is very inefficient because overcoming friction and gravity takes most of the energy. But Japan presents a very innovative solution which is magnetic levitation and will be the (supposed) end of hydrogen engines. Will...

The Pivotal Helix is a single-seat eVTOL (electric Vertical Take-Off & Landing) PAV (Personal Aerial Vehicle) with a range of 20+ miles (with 20% reserve) and a cruise speed 55 knots (63 mph). You can order now for July 2024 delivery, and no license is required, though you can't take delivery until you have completed the training. Pivotal ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Personal flight is currently undergoing a renaissance thanks to the rapid advancement of so many requisite industrial technologies. The next phase of personal flight is poised to begin and the production version of this aircraft could well mark the occasion in...

(Bloomberg) -- Hyundai Motor Group, the world’s third-biggest automaker by sales, plans to build a facility in the US where its air mobility division Supernal will make flying electric taxis intended to be used by commuters. A prototype of the electric vertical take-off and landing craft will be shown at CES in Las Vegas in January, Supernal Chief Executive Officer Shin Jaiwon said. The eVTOL taxi will be capable of flying at 120 miles an hour (190 kph) and have capacity for one pilot and four passengers. December 2024 is the target for a test flight, with ambitions to start...

The former president has again defined the territory over which an upcoming national election will be fought. And in so doing, he’s done the nation a great service.Political observers and partisan activists debate whether Donald Trump or some other Republican candidate has the best chance of beating a Democratic rival in the 2024 presidential election. But earlier this month, Trump demonstrated that just as he did in 2016, he is raising campaign issues central to America’s future, issues that no other candidate is talking about. The latest flare-ups of what have been nearly eight years of relentless, orchestrated prosecution of...

HT Aero plans to follow up its basic two-seat multicopter with an auto-folding, twin-rotor flying carXPeng / HT Aero VIEW 6 IMAGES XPeng affiliate HT Aero has unveiled an outrageous flying car design that it claims is "planned for roll-out in 2024." It looks like an electric Bugatti hypercar with a pair of huge, auto-folding props in the style of the Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey. Xpeng is a seven-year-old Chinese electric car company that's growing fast, pulling in somewhere around US$2 billion in revenue this year and shipping somewhere around 50,000 cars. It's investing heavily in autonomy and charging infrastructure, while...

The Jetson One flies along at highway speeds, with LiDAR-enabled obstacle avoidanceJetson Aero VIEW 4 IMAGES If anyone can think of a more perfect name for a personal eVTOL, we're listening! Sweden's Jetson Aero has already sold out the 2022 production run of this cute little single-seat kit build, which is capable of zooming along at 63 mph (102 km/h). The Jetson One is a simple design purely dedicated to muckin' about and having fun. Its single seat is suspended in an aluminum/carbon fiber spaceframe. It's a straight-up drone-style multicopter, with eight props mounted coaxially on four arms, putting out...

“Pretty,” was the word an Alabama senior used to describe the lifelike robotic companion pet she received from a new pilot project administered by the Alabama Department of Senior Services. It was the first word she had said in a long time, according to department Commissioner Jean Brown. The Alabama agency, along with several other state agencies managing programs for seniors in New York, Florida and Pennsylvania, have partnered with robotic pet manufacturer Ageless Innovation to combat loneliness and provide comfort and companionship for isolated seniors. With insight into the growing epidemic of loneliness and need for interactive play amongst...

It's as easy to use as playing Minecraft," Kitty Hawk CEO Sebastian Thrun said as we watched my colleague Rachel Crane pull on a motorcycle helmet. 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,...

The flying car is here. For $400,000, you can buy a very nice Rolls-Royce Dawn. Or you can purchase something slightly less sleek but more versatile: a flying car. Dutch company PAL-V is now taking orders for the world’s first commercial flying car, the Liberty. The company says that the Liberty models are fully compliant with safety regulations set by global governing bodies, and that deliveries will begin by the end of 2018. The first 90 copies are designated as Pioneer Editions, boasting special exterior and interior details. For the personalized touch and additional standard features such as power heating,...

Janet Waldo, a voice-over actress who played sprightly teenagers for decades on popular cartoon shows, most notably “The Jetsons,” died on Sunday at her home in Encino, Calif. She was 96. The television historian Stu Shostak, a friend, said the cause was an inoperable brain tumor.

The idea of a flying car might seem like something out of a science fiction novel, but it may soon become a reality. All it'll take is about $30 million in funding and some patience. Terrafugia, a Woburn manufacturer of flying cars has been working on its vehicles for almost eight years. The MIT-born company has been working on two kinds of cars: the Transition, which is scheduled to be released in mid-2016 and can fly at speeds of up to 100 miles per hour at up to 10,000 feet in the air; and the TF-X, a semi-autonomous plug-in hybrid...

If you're of a certain age - or just watch a lot of Hulu or Nick at Nite - you probably remember the folding (and flying) car from "The Jetsons." The forthcoming Hiriko Fold doesn't fly, but it does fold. To make this work, regular controls had to be replaced with drive-by-wire, and the accelerator, steering wheel and brake are gone in favor of an aerospace-type yoke that (as in a Segway), is moved forward to move the vehicle forward, and back for reversing. Left and right are for steering. Just like in the Jetsons' car (and the 1950s BMW...

Drivers hoping to slip the surly -- and traffic congested -- bonds of Earth moved a step closer to realizing their dream, as a US firm said it had successfully tested a street-legal plane. Massachusetts-based firm Terrafugia said their production prototype "Transition" car-plane had completed an eight-minute test flight, clearing the way for it to hit the market within a year. "With this flight, the team demonstrated an ability to accomplish what had been called an impossible dream," said founder Carl Dietrich. The two-seater craft, which has the rounded features of a Fiat 500 and collapsible wings, is on presale...

Is it a flying car or a driving aircraft? Either way, the Personal Air and Land Vehicle, or PAL-V for short, has just proved it can handle the skies as well as the highway, both at up to 180 kilometres (112 miles) per hour, its Dutch developers said Tuesday. The PAL-V is a gyrocopter that can fly as far as 500 kilometres (315 miles) at an altitude of up to 4,000 feet (1,200 metres). When it lands, it tucks away its rotor-blades and turns into a road-legal three-wheeled vehicle with a range of 1,200 kilometres. "In future, you will be...

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