AeroMobil To Debut Production Ready Flying Car
A flying car may soon be coming to a parking space near you thanks to AeroMobil’s third generation prototype, a new design that has seemingly solved the problems involved with taking a car into the air.
The AeroMobil is the product of a Slovokian firm, The Daily Mail reports. Billed as a flying car that makes use of existing infrastructure, the AeroMobil is set to be launched on October 29th at Austria’s Pioneers Festival. The designers claim that the AeroMobil is production ready and the current, third prototype is designed to facilitate door-to-door travel.
The flying car that really could be coming to a road near you http://t.co/1ugivG6ZH3 via @MailOnline pic.twitter.com/acMvEm43ku
— Skip (@sundoghigh) October 8, 2014
When in car mode, the AeroMobil is designed to fit into a normal parking space, as the wings fold into the passenger seat located behind the driver. When the wings are deployed, the aircraft is capable of flying 430 miles on a single tank of the same gasoline currently offered by service stations.
That flying car you were promised? @AEROMOBILCOM promises to deliver the world’s first, soon: http://t.co/Cmf2p89tx0 pic.twitter.com/5i7KlXwmfp — Boing Boing (@BoingBoing) October 8, 2014
The current design, AeroMobil 3.0, is the result of years of work by Štefan Klein, Motor Authority notes. The previous version, AeroMobil 2.5, made its first successful flight nearly a year ago powered by a Rotax 912 aircraft engine. Weighing around 992 pounds, it features a steel chassis and a carbon fiber body, with a rear mounted propeller for flight.
The flying car gets another shot at reality this October –http://t.co/pDUtlyM9ab pic.twitter.com/GX0GR1jlzj
— Hero X (@Iamherox) October 8, 2014
In airplane mode, the AeroMobil features a 27 foot wingspan. The flying car can achieve an airspeed of 124 mph while still allowing for a top ground speed of 100 mph. Power is shifted from the rear wheels to the propeller via cockpit-mounted controls.
“We have been developing the concept of a flying car since 1990,” said Tatiana Veber, a spokeswoman for AeroMobil. “Our first model looked quite bizarre and it would have problems in the regular use. That was a signal to improve the concept of the flying car in a way to become an integral part of the regular road traffic.”
Despite its impressive design, the AeroMobil isn’t the only flying car on the market. As The Inquisitr has previously noted, a Massachusetts firm developed a flying car design they dubbed the Terrafugia Transition, which debuted last summer. Equipped with wings that fold vertically instead of horizontally, the Transition seats two.
Further details of AeroMobil’s 3.0 prototype will be available after the flying car debuts later this month.
[Image: AeroMobil via Twitter]
