Man has dreamed about flying cars for a long time, however we are closer than ever of having that dream become a reality. There are many conceivable difficulties and problems that come up when engineers and designers attempt to create a flying vehicle: most typically aerodynamics, size, and power. Small prop planes are still quite big and are larger than the average car as their wingspan takes up a lot of space. However a few companies have attempted to tackle this problem and it seems that the Slovakian company AeroMobil has done the best job yet when they created a vehicle that goes by the same name.
The AeroMobil line of vehicles have been in the works since the 1990’s when the company first started out and began designing prototype versions of the AeroMobil 1. The early versions were rough drafts but AeroMobil has improved its line of experimental vehicles many times over the past 20 years. They currently just began real-world testing of the AeroMobil 2.5 and are in the prototype phase for the AeroMobil 3.
The current AeroMobil 2.5 is an impressive vehicle that is both a car and an airplane that is packed in a sleek and futuristic chassis. The vehicle when it is in car mode is about the same size of other automobiles and can easily fit in a normal car parking lot. If the user wants to put the vehicle into flight mode, all they have to do is activate the wings to fold out and have the engine power the propeller. While the vehicle is still one of the earliest “flying” cars, it is still extremely robust. The AeroMobil uses regular gasoline from a normal gas station. Once the engine is filled up the vehicle has a range of 540 miles on the road and a range of 430 miles in the air. The AeroMobil is powered via Rotax 912 engine that can accelerate the vehicle to around 124 mph in the sky and over 100 mph on the road. When the AeroMobil 2.5 wants to fly in needs to reach speeds of 90 mph to achieve lift. The vehicle is made from steel framework and is coated with carbon fiber to ensure that it is structurally sound. The AeroMobil 2.5 weighs 992 pounds and can comfortably fit 2 people.
AeroMobil is very confident that their AeroMobile 3, the production version of the 2.5, will be the perfect car and plane combination as it will provide added comfort and luxury into the vehicle. AeroMobil is set to unveil the AeroMobil 2.5 this October 29th during the Pioneers Festival in Austria, a festival all about technology, innovation, and inventors.
Photo from aeromobil.com
