A dual-mode car-aircraft vehicle, AirCar, completed a test flight of 35 minutes between two international airports in Nitra and Bratislava, Slovakia on June 28.
"After landing, at a click of a button the aircraft transformed into a sports car in under three minutes and was driven by its inventor, Professor Stefan Klein and co-founder, Anton Zajac to downtown Bratislava, cutting the typical travel time by a factor of two," the company said in a press release.
Fitted with a 160HP BMW engine with fixed-propeller and a ballistic parachute, the AirCar can potentially fly about 1,000 km, at a height of 8,200ft (2,500m). The futuristic car has already clocked 40 hours in the air till now including steep 45 degree turns and stability and maneuverability testing. The car takes approximately two minutes and 15 seconds to take off and convert from a car to an aircraft, the report added. During its flight, the car reached a speed of 170km/hour.
"AirCar is no longer just a proof of concept; flying at 8,200ft at a speed of 100kt, it has turned science fiction into a reality," Zajac said
With the growing concerns of traffic and getting to work on time, flying will slowly become an option as well and a lot of manufacturers have already been working towards that.
"This flight starts a new era of dual transportation vehicles. It opens a new category of transportation and returns the freedom originally attributed to cars back to the individual," said Professor Klein after exiting the AirCar cockpit in Bratislava.
AirCar Prototype 2, the pre-production model, will be equipped with a 300HP engine and receive the EASA CS-23 aircraft certification with an M1 road permit, the company said. "With its variable pitch propeller, the Prototype 2 is expected to have a cruise speed of 300km/h (162kt) and range of 1000km (621mi)," it added.
