Flying car (aircraft)
A flying car is a conceptual vehicle designed to facilitate personal air travel, potentially offering a more cost-effective and environmentally friendly alternative to traditional aircraft like airplanes and helicopters. Although the concept has been around since the early 20th century, it remains largely theoretical and has often been depicted in science fiction. Various companies, such as Terrafugia, Lilium, and Airbus, have developed prototypes, with designs ranging from roadable aircraft that can function as both cars and planes to rotor-driven vehicles resembling oversized drones.
Modern prototypes incorporate advanced technology, with vehicles like the Terrafugia Transition designed for dual functionality and the Lilium Jet utilizing vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) technology to serve urban commuters. Despite ongoing innovations, several challenges impede the commercial viability of flying cars, including safety concerns, the need for specialized pilot training, and economic factors that may render them unaffordable for many. Moreover, extensive government regulation and infrastructure development will be essential to support the widespread use of flying cars in everyday life.
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Flying car (aircraft)
A flying car is a theoretical vehicle that would facilitate personal air travel and provide a more cost-effective and possibly environmentally friendly alternative to airplanes and helicopters. Although the idea of a flying car has been around since the first automobiles hit the road in the early twentieth century, such seemingly futuristic forms of transportation have largely been the stuff of science fiction and popular entertainment. Nonetheless, the effort to build an actual flying car is a very real endeavor. A number of companies—including Terrafugia, Lilium, and Airbus—have built flying cars, and many others have developed an array of prototype designs. While some of these designs are aimed at building so-called roadable aircrafts that can literally function as both a car and a plane, others essentially take the form of oversized drones. Some flying cars currently in development are even intended to be completely autonomous.
Background
Flying cars have captivated the human imagination for many years. The earliest known design for a flying car dates back to a monoplane that was patented by aviation pioneers William Samuel Henson and John Stringfellow in 1841. Despite failing to construct a working version of their proposed monoplane, Henson and Stringfellow were responsible for introducing the idea of a flying car long before simple automobiles even existed.
The real father of the flying car was aircraft industry founder Glenn Curtiss. In 1917, Curtiss built a unique aircraft called the Autoplane. Featuring an aluminum body fitted with three wings and a four-bladed propeller, Curtiss's Autoplane was the first true flying car. It never really flew, however. In fact, it was only able to lift off the ground for a few seconds at a time.
While many flying car designs are developed on the premise of adapting a car for flight, some are based on the idea of adapting a plane for road travel. One of the earliest flying cars of this kind was Robert Fulton's Airphibian. Built in 1946, the Airphibian was a plane that could be easily converted into a car. Featuring a 150-horsepower 6-cylinder engine, the Airphibian could fly at up to 120 miles per hour and reach a top speed of 50 miles per hour on land. Although the forerunner of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certified it, a lack of financial support kept the Airphibian out of the sky and off the road.
The creation of the Airphibian subsequently inspired the development of one of the most successful flying cars ever built. In the late 1940s, aeronautical engineer Moulton "Molt" Taylor built the Aerocar, a flying car meant to enable an uninterrupted transition between flying and driving. The Aerocar eventually received FAA approval and was even set to be marketed nationwide by the Ford Motor Company, but those plans were ultimately canceled in light of the 1970s energy crisis.
Engineer Paul Moller was another pioneer of the flying car. Moller spent decades developing a roadable aircraft called the Skycar. His first attempt resulted in the creation of the XM-2 Skycar, a 1965 flying car that could hover above the ground. His biggest success came with the debut of the M200X Skycar in 1989. Capable of rising fifty feet off the ground, the M200X has been flown around two hundred times.
Overview
Modern flying car designs are much more complex and technologically advanced than their predecessors. These designs generally fall into one of two categories. The first category is roadable aircraft vehicles that are meant to function as both a car and an aircraft. Most of these types of flying cars feature folding wings that can be extended for use during flight and retracted while the vehicle is being used as a car. The second category is that of rotor-driven aerial vehicles that work like miniature helicopters or oversized drones. These vehicles are not built to be driven on the road at all.
One example of a modern roadable aircraft-type flying car is Terrafugia's Transition. Terrafugia, a Chinese-owned company that operates out of Massachusetts, began developing the Transition in 2006. In effect, the Transition is a small gas-powered airplane that can also be driven like a car. It has a top speed of 110 miles per hour. According to Car News China in 2024, China began preselling the car in 2024 for 2 million yuans ($280,000). Buyers would receive the cars in 2026.
The German aviation start-up company Lilium's Lilium Jet is an example of a modern rotor-driven aerial vehicle. First developed in 2014, the Lilium Jet is a five-seater air taxi that utilizes vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) technology like a drone. Powered by a series of electric engines, the Lilium Jet is intended to transport urban commuters from skyscraper to skyscraper at a projected top speed of 186 miles per hour. Lilium began selling the cars in the United States in 2023. There are other flying car designs as well. Airbus, a company known for producing jet airplanes, developed an electric flying car called the Pop.Up that consists of a carbon-fiber passenger capsule that can be used in conjunction with either a car chassis for road driving or a drone attachment for air flight. Subaru's Air Mobility Concept premiered at the Japan Mobility Show in Tokyo in 2023. The car, which has six rotors, resembles a spaceship.
In addition to the inherent engineering challenges involved, there are many other concerns that stand in the way of flying cars' potential commercial success. Obviously, safety is one of the biggest concerns. Even when the process is fully automated, flying is a dangerous activity that requires safety measures that go well beyond those involved in driving. The unique safety concerns raised by flying cars will need to be carefully addressed if such vehicles are to become practical. Another possible roadblock to the commercial viability of flying cars is the need for operators to have special training. Because they are a type of aircraft, nonautomated flying cars will require their operators to be fully trained and licensed pilots—a problem that may limit the market of potential buyers. Economics might be another serious hurdle. Flying cars may be prohibitively expensive for many people. As a result, the market for flying cars may be limited. On top of all this, the use of flying cars is also likely to require a great deal of government regulation and a commitment to building the infrastructure needed to support the technology on a widespread basis.
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