“Mark my word: A combination of airplane and motorcar is coming. You may smile, but it will come.” -- Henry Ford, 1940
Ever been hopelessly sandwiched in bumper-to-bumper traffic and fantasized about flying far, far away? As in actually pressing a button that magically releases a glorious pair of wings from your vehicle, escaping the infuriating gridlock below?
Then hang in there, weary road warriors. The car-plane of your wildest dreams could finally be here and taking flight soon. The “ first genuine flying car ” is now a reality, even if only as a prototype -- a fully functioning prototype, one that will eventually even offer autopilot.
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Beating Tesla’s Elon Musk, Terrafugia, and even DARPA to the punch, AeroMobil’s “Flying Roadster,” the AeroMobil 3.0, is slated to make its debut later this month.
Fasten your seatbelts. World premiere of AeroMobil 3.0 scheduled for 29th of October @Pioneers #getreadyAM3 pic.twitter.com/WfXazshPOW
The 19-foot-long, steel-framed blue and silver flying sports car (sorry, kid-toting moms and dads, it’s only a two-seater, no carpool for you) weighs just 992 pounds, one-quarter of the weight of a Hummer H3. With a somewhat disappointing top flight speed of only 124 miles per hour, the single Rotax 912 engine equipped Flying Roadster isn’t exactly a speed demon. Its top speed on the asphalt is 99 miles per hour.
Not bad, we suppose, for a car that flies.
Related: This In-Flight Gadget Prevents Pushy Passengers From Reclining Their Seats
All passengers have to do to extend the 27-foot wide (in total wingspan) collapsible wings and start the rear-mounted propeller is press the “transform” button, according to an article in . Pretty cool, right?
For down-to-Earth road travel, the four-wheeled Transformer-like Flying Roadster’s long, lightweight carbon-fiber patented wings neatly tuck away behind its angular, pod-like cabin. Once back to its car state, the sleek airplane-automobile hybrid is compact enough to parallel park on a crowded city street. A single steering wheel, also patented, is used to fly and drive the craft.
Related: Hate Flying? This Dreamy (or Dorky) Virtual Reality Helmet Could Help You Escape the Experience.
Buckle up. Check it out:
AeroMobil co-founder and chief designer Stefan Klein imagined his first flying car 25 years ago as a way to escape the former Czechoslovakia, reports Wired. He has since piloted several concept versions of his dream car-plane crossbreed, along with a pre-prototype. Klein aims to fulfill his initial orders sometime in 2016.
Still, it has a way to go before being as cool as Doc Brown’s flying DeLorean in Back to the Future.
Related: Elon Musk: 'Maybe We'll Make a Flying Car, Just For Fun'