Joser FerrerasThe first time I was introduced to flying cars was after watching the Back to the Future franchise as a kid, specifically the second film in 1989. That would’ve been the last, except a few years later, the concept of these air vehicles heading to the skies became a possibility thanks to the innovative minds amongst today’s automotive engineers.
Now, a flying car in Europe has successfully completed a test flight between two cities in the continent, after AirCar got one of its vehicles to travel between Nitra and Bratislava in Slovakia. This means that we could be a step closer to the future of the transportation industry ala the Robert Zemeckis trilogy.
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AirCar flying car in Europe
Image credit: Klein Vision Official Instagram
Klein Vision is one of several flying car companies working towards making the world a better place by taking vehicles off the streets. In June 2021, its AirCar made history for travelling between two international airports in Europe at an altitude of 8,200 feet, covering about 96 kilometres. Although, it’s capable of doing so almost 10 times this distance.
Created by Klein Vision’s Stefan Klein, AirCar is powered by a BMW engine and runs on petrol fuel. On the monumental flight, it reached a cruising speed of 170 kilometres per hour and pulled off the journey in just 35 minutes, surpassing 40 hours of test flights all done by Klein himself. “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 Klein in a press release.
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Image credit: Klein Vision Official YouTube
That’s not all there is to it. The AirCar flying car is actually a dual-mode vehicle. It functions as both a (sports) car and an aircraft. Its transformation from one form to the other can be done in under three minutes, and it’s about as satisfying to watch as anything you might’ve seen in science fiction movies, except this time, it’s real.
Anton Zajac, Klein Vision’s co-founder, accompanied Klein in the inaugural flight that constitutes the 142nd successful landing of the vehicle. “AirCar is no longer just a proof of concept, it has turned science fiction into a reality,” he added. Watch the official video of the flying car in Europe completing its first inter-city flight on Klein Vision’s YouTube channel here.
Featured image credit: Klein Vision | Official YouTube
