GUYANA and my fellow Hindus, Shubh Deepavali! I trust that your Deepavali is filled with light to brighten your life with flying colours.
Talking about ‘flying’, some interesting video out of Slovakia recently showed that the latest auto-plane from designer Stefan Klein has successfully flown about 20 feet off the ground, in a bid to prove itself worthy of investor money.On the heels of the Transition, a prototype air-car created by US-based Terrafugia, comes the Aeromobil, a roadworthy flying car from Slovakia. During testing last week, Version 2.5 of this shapely two-seater proved that it can indeed acquit itself on both road and runway. Aeromobil co-founder and chief designer, Štefan Klein started with the 1.0 back in 1990, and hopes to begin selling the 3.0 production model.
The latest prototype in a series that dates to 1990, the Aeromobil 2.5 features carbon fibre bodywork over a steel chassis. A Rotax 912 light-aircraft power plant — a horizontally opposed 1,211cc four-cylinder engine producing about 100 horsepower — supplies the propulsion on land through the front wheels, and in the air via a three-blade pusher prop.
This Eastern European country (Slovakia) isn’t known for its car industry, which might explain why it birthed such an outlandish vehicle.
Like the Terrafugia Transition, the Aeromobil is more plane than car. After landing, the wings fold behind the cabin, along a boom that houses the propeller shaft.
The rear-mounted propeller is driven by a Rotax 912 aircraft engine – the same one used in the Transition. In the air, the Aeromobil will reach a top speed of 124 mph. That top speed, however, drops to around 100 mph when the wheels are on the ground.
Terrafugia says the Transition will top out at 100 mph in the air, and 65 mph on the ground. It looks like the Aeromobil is the sports car of the pair.
Who’d have thought you’d have to go to Slovakia for all the good toys? While a flying car looks to be at least eight years away in America, the Aeromobil 2.5 has now emerged. Sure, it’s not clearing tall buildings in a single takeoff yet, but it has ginormous wings.
Since the production, Aeromobil 3.0 is still a ways off; the company isn’t talking price yet. Buyers will also have to factor in the cost of flying lessons.
According to science-fiction, flying cars are a harbinger of the future. Road-legal aircraft like the Aeromobil and Transition will help us find out if that’s a future we actually want.
The car’s insect-like wings, which sweep back against the body in driving mode, extend to a 27ft span for flight mode. The entire machine tips the scales at a scant 992lbs.
While a car that transforms into a plane is not a new concept, this latest prototype offers a new take on what the real thing could look like. The inventors’ background in fine arts meshes well with their engineering acumen: Their plane’s sleek carbon-composite body hides a practical steel-tube frame. Unlike other concepts, the wings of the “Aeromobil” are swept back when stowed, and blend in well with the shape of the 2.5.
So, where something like this could come in handy? Let’s say you’re a rich so-and-so living in Cornelia Ida (C.I) on the West Demerara, and want to get out to Kitty, in Georgetown, during the early morning traffic, especially at the Demerara Bridge. Talk about that traffic hold-up there during ‘peak’ hours! Thanks to the radio (FM), my wife has some sort of comfort during her hour-long drive (if the traffic is “light” at the bridge) to work, but with the influx of vehicles in Guyana, next year it might take her two hours, maybe more.
Keep in mind, however, that the Aeromobil isn’t the only auto-plane out there in search of investor cash to get it off the ground. It faces stiff competition from the U.S. company, Terrafugia, and its Transition. Both feature similar running gear, thanks to a 100-horsepower Rotax V-twin engine that produces somewhat comparable performance figures.
When it comes to looks, though, things change rapidly. The Aeromobil is much more artistically pleasing, and almost has the look of a dragonfly, while the Transition looks essentially like a plane with an awkward extra wheel.
Will we see these things littering the skies in the near future? Henry Ford promised in 1940 that auto-planes would become a reality, but on a mass scale, we’re not so sure. Certainly anything that shortens the time to get from Parika to Camp Street is a welcome choice, but it gets a bit more complicated when point-to-point doesn’t have a runway; and I am sure these flying cars aren’t going to be cleared to land on public roads anytime soon. Guess Government will have to look into this. After all, who wouldn’t like a flying car!