The journey to work would be a little different if your car could unfurl a pair of wings and glide over all the stationary traffic.
While this dream is still some way off for most of us, there’s a promising development coming out of….Slovakia.
Over there is a research and development company called Klein Vision, run by a chap called Professor Stefan Klein.
For the last 30 years, he’s been working to develop a flying car.
Now on his fifth generation of the product – fittingly called ‘AirCar’ – we have some genuinely impressive footage from a couple of test flights.
The video, shown above, follows the AirCar as it barrels down the road before transforming into a plane and taking to the skies. The company says it’ll complete the transformation in just three minutes.
The two-seat model weights 1,100kg and can carry additional load of 200kg per flight.
It’s powered by a BMW 1.6l engine giving the car-plane an effective power output of 140HP.
Klein Vision says the estimated travel range of the AirCar is 1,000km with a flight consumption of 18 l/h.
The company explains AirCar takes you from ground to sky with a takeoff set at 300m and reaching speeds up to 200 km/h. So you may need a clear stretch of the M25 before you’re able to really get going.
‘The key flight parameters confirmed all theoretical concepts and calculations that the development of the AirCar was based on. Following the completion of all required flight tests in compliance with EASA regulations, we will deliver a model with a certified ADEPT, 300HP engine within the next 6 next months’ Professor Klein, Klein Vision’s CTO and test pilot, said.
‘The good news is, we already have a buyer,’ he added, without mentioning exactly what the price is for the car yet.
It bears mentioning at this point – if you’re already adding an AirCar to your Christmas list – that you’ll need a pilot’s licence as well as a driving licence.
Anton Zajac, Klein Vision’s co-founder, investor and pilot, said: ‘With AirCar you will arrive at your destination without the hassle of getting a ride to airport and passing through commercial security, you can drive your AirCar to the golf course, the office, the mall or your hotel and park it in a normal parking space.’
Sounds great, put us down for two.
