This flying SUV is now testing on America’s roads and in its skies
The flying car dream is edging closer to reality. Or at least it is for well-heeled individuals who value function over form.
The Aska A5 is described as a four-seater “Drive and Fly” vehicle. It’s powered by electric wheel motors for road use and a combination of drone-style rotors for lift, and larger props for forward motion in the air.
In road mode the A5 looks ungainly, and worryingly-top-heavy, as the wings and rotors fold on top of the canopy, but push a button and they perform a reverse-origami move to switch to the aerial mode that was clearly the main focus of the design.
The A5 has already received certification from the Federal Aviation Administration to undergo flight testing and has now become “the world’s first flying car to receive authorization to drive on public roads from the United States Department of Motor Vehicles.”
In the air the A5 is claimed to have a top speed of 150 mph and a range of 250 miles, while thanks to its innovative design it only needs a short runway to for take-off or landing.
It’s billed as door-to-door transportation so that’s why the large SUV-sized Aska is also being put through its paces on the roads of California’s Silicon Valley, but looking at the promotional video below, one can’t imagine anyone wanting to drive it very far (or fast). Nonetheless, the company says it has already taken more than 60 pre-orders for the A5 with an early-adopter price tag of $789,000.
https://youtu.be/d7lA3Ibv1MA
Uhhh, the video shows it taxiing and driving (slowly).
Does the flying car fly? Or drive over 25 mph ?
And what are its range parameters flying and driving? Talk about range anxiety!
It’s hard to pull over to the side of the sky if it runs out of juice and it looks like
it will glide like a stone.
Plus how much do the batteries weigh? How much extra weight would you be lifting over a gas tank and small engine?
What happens if a gas engine explodes? Of it’s powered by a gas engine wouldn’t u be better off buying a Cessna? What if I can’t find gas and only can only find electric outlets?
It MIGHT autorotate like a helicopter with an engine failure.
I sure a computer tied to the altimeter could change the pitch of the blades (i.e. raise the collective) just before touchdown to soften the landing.
I have been around aviation my entire life.
I also learned to fly vintage helicopters…I do not think the idiotic, non-attention paying general public should be allowed anywhere near a flying machine….no matter how advanced.
AMEN brother.
Several articles on the web state that a pilot’s certificate will be required to actually fly this thing. That, of course, doesn’t rule out all of the idiots who don’t pay attention, but it helps.
Plus, drivers, er fliers, have to remember to add blinker fluid.
Don’t forget the Prop wash.
I’ve always said that flying cars is one of those, “just because they can, Doesn’t mean they should” things. people can’t even keep from getting into accidents in there regular cars (or planes) and now they want to give people something else to crash into each other with.
hit the nail squarely!
Perhaps we’ll get a Nikola like video of it “flying” after being dropped from a helicopter crane.
And yet their NKLA stock is 2.395 even after the admissions that all tests were faked and vehicle didn’t move🙄
According to USA Today, it does not drive over 25 mph.
Looks like a flying version of the Titanic OceanGate submersible.
That thing is ugly. How long before someone crashes this thing?
Flying cars will never take off.
I see what you did there.
There have been a few flying cars over the years that work well. They did not, however, sell well.
Just because we can doesn’t mean we should.
This has been going on since the advent of automobiles an airplanes. These two vehicles are in no way compatible. Aircraft require vast spaces for exhaust (thrust) and road vehicles cannot withstand such force. Pipe dreams are not new to society and this one doesn’t seem to go away. Cold, hard facts of life prevent this fantasy from happening. If you want to fly somewhere you will not be going by automobile. Try flapping your arms, that doesn’t work either.
I told Wilbur. I told Orville. That contraption’ll never work.
It’s ungainly in road mode for sure! Looks like it might be a decent aircraft that doesn’t take much hangar space and will move itself out to the taxiway. It would be convenient if you lived near an airport or in an “air park” where houses with hangars are along the runway — you really wouldn’t need a hangar, just a taller than normal garage. That’s the only real use I can see for it though. I guess the drone-like lift props don’t provide enough lift, hence the STOL capability instead of VTOL. Range is the next issue, as already pointed out. I just couldn’t see driving it very far though.
I have seen a LOT better designs. We need to wait until we develop anti-gravity before we try to fly a car. Batteries need to last longer. Hopefully it has a parachute. For the money you could buy a nice car to go to the airport in and a nice Cesna.
It looks very practical and safe
It certainly isn’t the first to be certified for road use in the U.S. The Aerocar both flew and drove starting in 1949 and six were sold: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerocar
TLGA will soar Monday 🚀
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/tlg-acquisition-one-corp-stockholders-200500148.html
you must be joking. THAT looks like an accident waiting to happen!
If a drone and a helicopter mated
🔥🔥
Major improvements in the Interstate system. (I-95 could use a couple of million.) Speed limits of 120mph. Who would need that to go 150mph?
This thing looks like a fail.