About a year ago we reported on the development of a flying car by a company in Slovenia called Aeromobil. The company has now taken a new version of the aircraft to the skies — the Aeromobil 3.0 — and it looks like progress has been made.
In comparing the video of the new version with the previous flying prototype of the Aeromobil, the 3.0 appears to exhibit more stability in flight. The following video shows the flying car driving out of a hangar and down a two-lane street, departing from and landing at an immaculately manicured grass airport and flying in formation with a high-wing taildragger airplane.
While the Aeromobil appears to be more stable than other flying cars we’ve seen, there are other factors that could limit its utility. The Aeromobil may be difficult to parallel park or fit into normal car parking spaces with its nearly 236-inch length, which is well over two feet longer than Ford’s full-sized F150 truck.
The flying car has folding wings that open up like origami as the control surfaces fold over the top of the wing surfaces, which are tucked on top of the body of the aircraft, when stowed. The Aeromobil 3.0 is powered by a pusher-mounted Rotax 912 engine spinning a four-blade propeller. It is evident that the chief designer, CTO and co-founder of the company, Štefan Klein, studied both science and art, as the aircraft has beautiful futuristic lines.
Whether the Aeromobil will ever hit the commercial market remains to be seen. Aeromobil has been working on the concept since the early 1990s and several companies have tried and failed in the past to develop a viable flying car.
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