A prototype flying car has completed its first inter-city flight, travelling between the cities of Nitra and Bratislava in Slovakia.
The AirCar is powered by a 160hp BMW engine and runs on regular petrol. It completed the flight in 35 minutes and was ‘transformed’ back into a car within three minutes, then driven into the city centre.
The vehicle is equipped with a fixed propeller and a ballistic parachute. Its inventor, Professor Stefan Klein, said it is capable of travelling at 8,200 feet and can reach a cruising speed of 118mph.
The vehicle flown in Slovakia is the first prototype. A second pre-production model is also being trialled, powered by a 300hp engine. This is expected to have a cruising speed of 186mph and a range of 621 miles.
A spokesman for the company behind the project, Klein Vision, told Motoring Research the plan is for the vehicle to be available to customers within the next 12 months. A price is yet to be confirmed.
“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’s cockpit in Bratislava.
“AirCar is no longer just a proof of concept. Fflying at 8,200ft, it has turned science fiction into a reality,” added Anton Zajac, co-founder of Klein Vision.
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