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The prototype of a flying car successfully completed a test flight in Slovakia on Monday, BBC reported today. The plane had flown from Nitra to Bratislava, a distance of about 75 kilometers.
The plane-car hybrid has a BMW engine and runs on conventional gasoline, the BBC writes. According to the inventor of the “AirCar,” Slovak Stefan Klein, the vehicle should be able to cover a distance of 1,000 kilometers at a flight altitude of 2,500 meters.
Visually, the “AirCar” is reminiscent of an invention from a James Bond film: within two minutes and 15 seconds, the car transforms into an airplane. In the air, the vehicle reaches a speed of 170 kilometers per hour, and two people can fit in the car-airplane. Rather unsurprisingly, the inventor described his test flight as “very enjoyable.”
A prototype flying car – source: business standard
Sector could be trillion-dollar business
Expectations for the flying car market are high: in 2019, according to the BBC, consulting firm Morgan Stanley predicted that the sector could grow to as much as $1.5 trillion (1,500 billion) by 2040. Just recently, Hyundai Motors Europe CEO Michael Cole called the concept “part of our future.”
Expert doubts approval
Steve Wright, an expert in avionics at the University of the West of England, described the “AirCar” to the BBC as “the love child of a Bugatti Veyron and a Cessna 172.” However, he was quite skeptical: “I have to admit that it looks really cool – but I have a hundred questions about certification,” Wright said.
“Anyone can build an airplane, but the trick is to build one that flies and flies and flies for a million hours, with one person on board, without an incident. I can’t wait to see the piece of paper that says it’s safe to fly and therefore safe to sell.”
— source: orf.at/picture: bbc.com
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