The Flying Car - Converts From Automobile to Aircraft in 30 Seconds
Owning your own airplane is expensive enough, but where do you store it in between flights? Well, the cool new Flying Car is a street-legal automobile that fits in your garage, drives down the road and converts into a Light Sport aircraft in only 30 seconds. It even saves you the need to rent a car when you land at your destination.
This innovative, hybrid vehicle was designed by a team of MIT graduates to be driven to an airfield, where it can then deploy its self-locking foldable wings into place and takeoff down a 17' runway. In the air, it features a maximum airspeed of 115 mph powered by a 100 HP four-cylinder engine, a sophisticated modern avionics aid navigation from a touch-screen LCD, dual pedals, joystick, dual rudders, ailerons, and stabilator. On the road, it can reach speeds up to 65 mph and features a continuously variable transmission, rear-wheel drive, four DOT-approved tires with full road suspension, steering wheel, accelerator, and brakes. It's constructed from carbon fiber, titanium, and aluminum and its 23-gallon gas tank provides a 425 nautical mile range (35 mpg on the road). Requires a Sport Pilot Certificate.
This may not be the zero-gravity, personal flying machine with laser blasters we've all dreamt of, but we're now one step getting closer. Too bad it can't land in the water like a sea plane and then convert into a speed boat too!