Slovakia- Stefan Klein wins airworthiness certification for its BMW powered convertible flying car. The Aircar is a hybrid-car-aircraft that runs on regular petrol. The car takes only three minutes to convert into a plan. The creator claims that it’s like ‘’turning a fiction science into reality. ’This week, the car performed its first inter-city fight in Slovakia. The designers hope that it’s the first step towards future transport.
Test Fight of the Aircar
The Car completed more than 40 hours of test flight reaching altitudes of 8,200 feet with a maximum speed of 190km/h. The creator Klein says, ‘’ It’s great that the legislation allowed something like this to go from a virtual location to the real one. This is our goal, to create a real product that you will be able to buy one day.’’
However, some expert thinks the other way around. They believe the future is a long way off. Likewise, Lubomir Palcak from the transport Research institute in Zilina said, ‘’ We cannot say that in the coming years we will use flying(cars) here, but it is very good that this topic arises in Slovakia and there is a concrete result.’’
Airworthiness Certification by the Slovak Transport Authority
Certification is essential to function under the regulations of a country. The flying car certificate of worthiness by the Slovak Transport Authority allows it to test the car officially. The company appreciate the support from the transport authority and said, ‘’ AirCar certification opens the door for mass production of very efficient flying cars. It is an official and final affirmation of our ability to change mid-distance travel forever.’’
Moreover, the AirCar takes off and lands like a conventional plane. Therefore, it requires a pilot’s license as well to fly. Meanwhile, several companies are working on unpiloted air-taxi services. Dr Steve Wright, senior research fellow in avionics and aircraft systems, at the University of the West of England, said the news was “a good step down the road” for the company. However, personal transport not really looks like this. Though, the revolution is coming. He added, ‘’ from a transport point of view, it has a niche- although, a very interesting niche.’’
Consequently, it’s attracting investors who seem to promote a convenient and flexible form of transport. For example, Boeing investment of $450 m into Wisk, a California-based autonomous –air-taxi company.
