A flying car capable of converting from a road to an air vehicle has been granted an airworthiness certification in Slovakia, as its makers eye mass manufacturing.
The Slovak Transport Authority awarded the AirCar by Klein Vision a Certificate of Airworthiness earlier this week, after the vehicle completed more than 70 hours of successful flight testing.
The AirCar is a dual-mode vehicle with a petrol engine that can convert from a car to an aircraft at the push of a button.
The AirCar is capable of driving on the roads like an ordinary car
In its testing it has performed steep 45 degree turns, reached maximum speeds of 190 kilometres per hour and flown a 35-minute inter-city journey between airports in Nitra and Bratislava.
Slovak company Klein Vision said its flight testing was in line with European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) standards, and that the certification aids its plans to introduce a version of the AirCar onto the market for commercial travel. "AirCar certification opens the door for mass production of very efficient flying cars," said Klein Vision founder and CEO Stefan Klein. "It is official and the final confirmation of our ability to change mid-distance travel forever."
Wings deploy to turn the car into an aircraft
A representative of the Transport Authority of Slovakia, Civil Aviation Division director René Molnár, described the AirCar as defining "a new category of a sports car and a reliable aircraft".
"Its certific...