Experts have designed the world’s first practical flying car aimed at frustrated commuters - and it looks like a Reliant Robin.The bizarre three-wheeled vehicle promises relief to motorists stuck in traffic jams by turning into an aircraft capable of soaring up to 4,000ft above congested roads.
This weird vehicle assures reprieve to motorists wedged in traffic jam by offering them a ride in this aircraft competent of elevating up to 4,000ft above heaving roads. Running at a top speed of 125mph on land, the Personal Air and Land Vehicle (PAL-V), has a structure similar to that of a motorbike but it’s ready to fly by unfolding rotor, propeller and tail section hidden in its roof. It is this hidden kit only that allows it access of up to 120mph.
Its comical appearance betrays its rapid acceleration from 0 to 60 in just 5 seconds - a far cry from Del Boy Trotter’s yellow Robin Reliant in Only Fools and Horses.Its inventors believe that when the the one-seater cars go on sale to the public, they would cost little more than an executive saloon car.When airborne, the PAL-V is similar to the tiny autogyro aircraft Sean Connery flew in the 1967 James Bond movie ‘You Only Live Twice’.Called a gyrocopter, the design includes a rotor on the roof to lift it through the air, and a propeller at the rear to provide forward thrust.
To fly the PAL-V you need a recreational pilot’s licence, which takes between 10 and 20 hours training to obtain, while a normal driver’s licence covers you for use on the road.
Experts have spent six years developing concept versions and are now building the first commercial prototype with a view to begin manufacturing the vehicles soon.Their target audience are motorists who are fed up with traffic jams. John Bakker, who invented the PAL-V, said: “Since Henry Ford built the Model T Ford, people have been dreaming of a vehicle that could drive and fly.
The vehicle needs 165ft to take off in and just 16ft to land, and it can fly for 340 miles under its fuel-efficient and environmentally certified car engine.The same engine works for both road and air travel and runs on normal unleaded petrol, which means you can refuel at any roadside service station.It can be driven and flown using the same controls by switching between two different modes.On the ground, the slim-line vehicle is as comfortable as a luxury car but has the agility of a motorbike, thanks to its patented “tilting” system.
Against a helicopter, the rotor of an autogyro is impelled by sleek forces alone once it is in air. The creators of this prototype foresee a time when such automobiles would be extensively used that people will wing along sky highways, intended by GPS and using radar to prevent accident.
The single rotor and propeller are folded away until the PAL-V is ready to fly.
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