AeroMobil: The flying car you can buy right now

Olivia Rudgard
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The AeroMobil is one of several flying cars in development. Picture / Supplied

The AeroMobil is one of several flying cars in development. Picture / Supplied

The prototype, with an engine built by British engineering specialist Prodrive, is a petrol-fuelled car that works on the roads and in the air.

The Aeromobil, which is being built in Slovakia, is seeking certification as both a car and a plane.

The latest model, which was on display at the Frankfurt motor show, is the fourth version of a concept originally developed in the 1990s.

And Aeromobil's website makes it sound like a real-life flying car is within reach.

Inspired by a "perfectly aerodynamic teardrop shape", the cars have a glass cockpit with an interior swathed in the "finest leather" for style and comfort.

Costing NZ$1.97 million, the car is 5.9m long and 2.2m wide, and can seat two people. There's also space under the bonnet for luggage weighing up to 20kg -- enough for a small suitcase or two.

And if you're worried about plunging from the sky, never fear. It also has "the very latest in vehicle recovery ballistic parachutes" and "pyrotechnic seat belt technology".

AeroMobil is accepting orders for the cars but is only producing a limited number of units.

It isn't the only company fighting to be the first to send a car into the skies. Many companies have created cars that are capable of becoming airborne.

Earlier this year an electric flying car made its maiden test flight in Germany.

Lilium's jet-propelled vehicle takes off and lands vertically, in the same way as a helicopter, and the company says it will be able to fly up to 300km using an electric battery.

Japanese engineers are working on small flying cars with the aim of using one to light the Olympic flame at the 2020 Games, which will be hosted in Tokyo.

And if you don't have almost $2 million to hand, Dutch company Pal V has created a vehicle that converts from a motorcycle into a gyrocopter in 10 seconds. It is due to sell for between $560,000 and $820,000.

Getting a vehicle regulated and registered as both a car and a plane is more difficult -- and that's before you consider the air-traffic control issues potentially raised by having thousands of domestic flying vehicles in the sky.

Development has not been entirely smooth -- Aeromobil suffered a setback in 2015 when one of its prototypes crashed during its maiden flight in west Slovakia, sending the pilot to hospital with minor injuries.

The Aeromobil still requires a runway to take off, too, making it impractical for drivers without an airstrip in their back garden. And drivers will need both a pilot's licence and a driver's licence to use it.

- Telegraph

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