Photo: KLEIN VISION / copyright
The flying car has taken off.
AirCar , a hybrid car prototype, has completed a flight of 35 minutes between the international airports of Nitra and Bratislava, in Slovakia.
It is equipped with a BMW engine and runs on regular fuel.
Its creator, the Slovakian engineer and pilot Stefan Klein, said that it can fly about 1. 000 km at a height of 2. 500 meters, and that you have registered so far 80 hours in the air.
You only need 2 minutes and 15 seconds to transform into an airplane.
A “very pleasant” experience
After the flight, its narrow wings folded to the sides.
Klein took him off the track and led him directly into the city, under the gaze of some reporters invited to the event.
He described the experience, the early morning of this Monday, as “very pleasant”.
In the air, the vehicle reached a cruising speed of 170 km / h .
Can transport two people, with a combined weight limit of 200 kg.
But, unlike drone-taxi prototypes, it cannot take off and land vertically and requires from a track.
There are high expectations in the nascent flying car market, something that for a long time in popular culture was seen as a milestone to be achieved.
On 2019, consulting firm Morgan Stanley predicted that the sector could be worth US $ 1 , 5 trillion for 2021 .
And in an event of the industry on Tuesday, Hyundai Motors Europe CEO Michael Cole called the concept “part of our future.”
Considered a possible solution to the pressure on existing transport infrastructures.
“A huge market”
The company behind AirCar, Klein Vision, founded by Stefan Klein says the prototype took about two years to develop and that “less than 2 million euros” was invested in it ( about US $ 2.4 million) .
Anton Rajac, consultant and an investor in Klein Vision, said that if the company could attract even a small percentage of global airline or taxi sales, I would have to a great success .
“There are around of 40. aircraft orders only in States United “, he pointed out.
” And if we manage to change the plane for the flying author in 5% of them, we have a huge market ”.
“ Very interesting ”
Stephen Wright, Principal Investigator in Avionics (e lectronics applied to airplanes) and aircraft from the University of the West of England, described the AirCar as “the natural son of a Bugatti Veyron and a Cessna 172 ”.
And you don’t think the vehicle is going to be particularly noisy or wasteful in terms of fuel costs, compared to other aircraft.
“I have to admit that it looks very interesting, but I have hundreds of doubts s about certification , ”Wright said.
“Anyone can make an airplane; the trick is to make one that flies and flies for hours with a person on board without suffering an accident. ”
“ I’m looking forward to seeing the document that proves that it is safe to fly and to trade. ”
Now you can receive notifications from BBC Mundo. Download our app and activate them for do not miss our best content.