Stefan Klein by a model of what is to be... (via digitaljournal)
There has been talk about flying cars for years now, but Slovak engineer and designer Stefan Klein may have actually made the first viable flying car, with plans to begin production this year.
Klein always had a dream of creating what he calls a flying machine. He told Phys.org that he comes from a line of pilots and flying is just in his blood. Receiving his pilot license before he was old enough to drive a car, Klein began working on the creation of his flying machine in the early 1990s and now the Aeromobil is near completion.
The Aeromobil looks like your regular elegant sports car, but when the driver gets to the airport, it has wings that unfold, enabling the machine to become a plane. Anyone that wishes to purchase the car must have both a valid driver’s license and a pilot’s license with at least 25 hours of flight experience.
The flying vehicle is 20 feet long and seats two people. It runs on regular gasoline and guzzles 4 gallons per hour while in the air. At top speed it can travel at 124 mph and up to 430 miles per trip.
While this distance won’t get you from Chicago to Australia, Klein said it is designed for pilots who need to take short trips that want to get to the airport, take flight, land and drive to their intended destination without getting out of the vehicle.
The Aeromobil is really a dream come true for Klein. He and his team took the flying machine for its first flight test in September and are now working on updating the current model to release into the marketplace later this year.
The Aeromobile is not, however, the only flying machine in town. The U.S.-based Terrafugia’s Transition is expected to hit the marketplace in a year’s time, while the helicopter-based Dutch PAL-V gyrocopter may hit the market later in the year.
Regardless of the competition, Klein believes his flying car is the best, and experts agree. It was named the best-designed and prettiest airborne automobile in the world to date by U.S. aviation magazine Flying and Inhabitat.com.
Klein says he expects the Aeromobil to sell well with people who wants an alternative mode of transportation for short distances, but says it may be a big hit in countries with limited infrastructure, such as Russia.
While Klein believes the Aeromobil won’t be as popular as your average car, he does agree that the average person has at least dreamt of owning a flying car.
“Honestly, who hasn't dreamt of flying while being stuck in the traffic?" Klein told Agence France-Presse.
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