A prototype flying machine has flown a 35 minute flight between Nitra and Bratislava International airports in Slovakia.
Hybrid car developed AirCar is equipped with a BMW petrol engine. Creator Prof Stefan Klein said it can fly about 1,000 kilometers at an altitude of 2,500 meters and to date has stayed in the air for 40 minutes.
It takes at least 2 minutes and 15 seconds to transform a car into a flying object.
Thin wings fold into the sides of the car. It was Klein himself who flew the car between the airports.
He described the experience as something normal and a special pleasure. In the air the car flew at 170 km / h and can carry two people with a combined weight of 20kg.
But unlike drone taxis that have been developed to date, it cannot fly vertically and needs a runway.
Expectations for flying cars are high and are seen as the next major step towards a technological future.
In 2019 consulting firm Morgan Stanley predicted the sector would be worth $ 1.5 trillion by 2040.
The company behind AirCar, Klein Vision, says that the development of the prototype took 2 years and cost at least 2 million euros.
At least 40,000 orders have been received from the US for the car alone. AirCar can easily be described as the child of a Bugatti Veyron and Cesna 172. / PCWorld Albainan
