We recently brought you news about a flying car concept from China, but the excitement generated by that design has been dwarfed by a new Slovak flying automobile – not least because the latter has actually been built.
The AeroMobil can reach a speed of 160km per hour on land, and more than 200kmh (124mph) in the air. It weighs just 450kg and has been attracting interest from Chinese and Russian investors.
The propeller driven machine is largely constructed of carbon fibre and features wings that fold away inside the vehicle’s body when taking to the road.
While the idea of a flying car has long been a goal of many inventors and engineers, it seems there is more interest than ever in producing one.
Stefan Klein and Jurak Vaculik, the Slovak designers of the AeroMobil, have been working on the car for over 20 years. The most recent version will be released in 2014, following on from version 2.5 in 2010 and version 1.0 in 1990.
Other comparable projects include the US-based Terrafugia, which features wings that fold on the car’s sides, and a Dutch design called PAL-V.
How safe an ‘aero car’ such as the AeroMobil is remains to be seen. Could hundreds of them be used in close proximity? Will vehicle recovery providers one day have to provide services to flying automobiles? It seems that only a vehicle with exceptionally advanced manoeuvrability would ever be usable in towns and cities; with this in mind the Chinese hover concept might offer more control, although that design still appears to be at the drawing-board stage.
The AeroMobil has been invited to many air shows for 2014, so keep an eye out for it.
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