Aeromobil Flying Car Prototype Gets Off the Ground For the First Time

Zothecula writes "There is a saying in flying: 'If it looks good, it will fly well.' Stefan Klein, a designer from the Slovak Republic, has announced the first flight of his Aeromobil Version 2.5, a flying car prototype he has been developing over the last 20 years. This vehicle is a strikingly beautiful design with folding wings and a propeller in the tail. But will its flight capabilities match its looks?"

Not really sure what I was expecting

[GrandCow]

I've been checking up on the company every couple years since the 90's, and every time they redesign it just gets closer to a small plane with retractable wings. I guess that's to be expected though, since we've had 100 years to come up with a good design. Every new design has also moved away from the space of being in a road vehicle and become more and more cramped like in a cockpit.

At what point does it stop being a compact car and just become a plane that can be stored in smaller places? It's not like he can just take off from the road, he still needs an airport. Doesn't that defeat the entire purpose of a flying car?

Re:Not really sure what I was expecting

[Deadstick]

Doesn't that defeat the entire purpose of a flying car?

No. The purpose of a flying car is to extract money from the gullible, and they've been performing splendidly at that for many years.

Re:It's a plane, not a very good car.

[ZombieBraintrust]

My rule of thumb is that a "flying car" is a vehicle that functionally replaces the automobile in the same way the "horseless carriage" replaced the horse and buggy. The idea of a "flying car" is that it would be a family vehilce owned by the middle class. That it would be a day to day vehicle. That it was better than a car because it would travel line of sight instead of on roads. An expensive plane, that can't carry heavy loads, and needs a runway doesn't fit any of these promises.

I see no point.

[Anonymous Coward]

1) Its not good car
2) Its not good plane either
3) You have to go to airport to take off
4) Most probably if you can afford flying car, you can afford car and plane together each by itself.

Flying car is cool only if you can take off whenever you want off, wherever you want.

Re:Not really sure what I was expecting

[compro01]

It's not like he can just take off from the road, he still needs an airport. Doesn't that defeat the entire purpose of a flying car?

No. If your plane is also your car, you don't need to arrange/pay for a ride/rental from the airport (small municipal airports are often quite a ways from the cities they purportedly serve) to where you're actually going and you also don't need to pay to store your aircraft while you're there.

It remains a useful thing, just not for the uses you have in mind.