2015, you are lookin’ up! It appears the future may finally be arriving, in the form of the Aeromobil 3.0 – the fabulous flying car
While it is still only a prototype, you have to admit, as far as flying cars go, it’s pretty freakin’ awesome.
As a car it fits into a standard parking space, it uses regular gasoline, and drives on the road just like any other car. As a plane it can use any airport in the world, but can also take off and land using any grass or paved surface just a few hundred meters long.1
But surely, these are fairly standard specs necessary for a viable flying car. What sets Aeromobil apart? Speed is part of it: as a car, the aeromobil can travel up to 99 miles per hour. In contrast, their closest competitor, the Terrafugia Transition, reaches only 65mph. The Aeromobil also appears to have fewer dramatic blind spots than MIT grads’ brainchild Terrafugia. Also important – easier to pronounce.
On the other other hand, the Terrafugia has already been certified as road legal in the US, complies with some fairly stringent safety requirements and has infrastructure in place for drivers…err, pilots, to figure out how to fly the thing.
Regardless of the outcome, this is one competition I’m excited to see happening. At the inception of both the car and the bicycle industry, a plethora of small companies popped up just prior to the widespread acceptance of the technology. ‘Course, this isn’t super predictive when you realize it wasn’t the case in airplanes or electricity, but whatever, I’ll hang my hat on whatever hope I can find if it means I get a flying car.
My friends are less supportive of my flying car dreams, because I am a terrible driver. And, let’s face it, statistically, there’s a damn good chance a lot of you are, too. And so, while flying cars are becoming more technologically feasible, the barrier to Jetsons-like futurism may be far more mundane safety concerns. You know, just like how that stopped us from using trains, bikes, cars and planes. I laugh at your safety concerns, jerks.
So why don’t we already have a flying car? A number of necessary conditions must be fulfilled before there is a viable mass market for flying cars. Infrastructure to stop us flying into each other, for starters. And, realistically, at $250,000 – a significant cost reduction from prior attempts, it’s going to be a hard sell. Just consider a Lamborghini – at a similar price point, the company sells about 2,100 cars a year. Until the Ford of flying cars comes along, I think we’re shit out of luck.
But hey, who knows Aeromobil may one day be the Ford of the friendly skies. Let us toast to your ongoing success at bringing about the future.