The world’s first proven flying car just received its airworthiness certificate by the Slovakian Transport Authority.
Last June, this car deployed some mechanical wings and took off from a runway in the city of Nitra in Slovakia, and landed in Bratislava 35 minutes later. After it folded up its wings, the exotic-looking sports car drove off down the highway.
The aptly-named AirCar then did this 200 more times across 700 hours of flight time before the aviation authorities decided that it was reliable and safe.
“AirCar certification opens the door for mass production of very efficient flying cars,” its creator, Prof Stefan Klein, said. “It is official and the final confirmation of our ability to change mid-distance travel forever.”
The dramatic, watershed-moment-tone is perhaps appropriate, as the car can reach 100 mph on the road, and 8,000 feet of altitude, while needing only around 2 minutes and 15 seconds to deploy or store its wings.
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Last year, GNN reported that the prototype was developed by a company called KleinVision, founded by Stefan Klein, who spent 20 years turning his dream into a reality. For an unbelievably small amount of money—about 2 million euro—the Slovak created the world’s first flying car to travel between two airports.
Dr. Stephen Wright, a research fellow of avionics at the University of West England, told the BBC at the point of the test flight that he had reservations but that he “[couldn’t] wait to see the piece of paper that says this is safe to fly and safe to sell.” Eat your heart out, Wright.
Klein Vision has specified that they are looking to take a share out of the aircraft market with the AirCar, not the auto market—and Morgan Stanley estimates the flying car market over the next 20 years will be worth over a trillion dollars, similar to the buzz that arose around the recent boom in private spaceflight.
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