George, you had our hearts when you got into your car

Hey, everybody, it’s 2019 and we’re in the future now, so I want to know what we’ve wanted to know for the last fifty years: where’s my flying car?

Since as least 1970 (and a few even before then) startup companies and magazines have been excitedly showing us their flying car prototypes and promising “you’ll be able to buy one in five years, no problem! Rebuild your suburban driveway now so you’ll be ready to park your new Superflagillistic Aeromatic Wunderzoomer 5000 and astonish your neighbors!”

Didn’t turn out that way, did it? Of course, perhaps “SAW-5000” wasn’t the best acronym in the world, but what every company and DIY hacksmith instantly ran into was the extreme technical difficulty of getting a roadworthy airframe off the road and into the air. First, it had to fly with some stability, and be flown by rank amateurs. Secondly, it had to fly more than a few miles before it ran out of gasoline. Thirdly, it had to have some form of safety landing recovery system before any state would allow it to be seen in their skies. Oh, and finally, it had to actually drive on the road with more aplomb than a wagon pulled by goats.

Terrafugia is one company determined to bring a practical aircar to market. Founded by graduates of the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and graduates of the MIT Sloan School of Management, incorporated in 2006 and bought by the Chinese in 2017, their take on this is more of a road-worthy aircraft rather than an air-worthy car. When can we expect it in showrooms? Well, perhaps not for awhile, but the new owner, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, also owns Volvo now so there may be hope.

Another is the PAL-V ONE (a road-worthy autogyro) is available to buy now, but it’s eye-watering price of over €500,000 may slow down sales. At least for folks like you and me.

A completely different take on this market is the I-TEC Maverick, which is essentially an off-road ATV that flies under a parachute, like most ultralight aircraft. It has the ability to fly for three hours at up to 10,000 feet — a bit high for the likes of me to be comfortable under a parafoil, but to each his own. It was certfied to fly in the US by the FAA in 2012, at least experimentally. Interestingly, “I-TEC” stands for the Indigenous People’s Technology and Education Center (I-TEC). It is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit Christian missionary organization located in Dunnellon, Florida. I guess you never know where flying cars are going to come from.

Much more advanced is the Aeromobil 3.0, a folding-wing aircraft that looks like it does very well on the road. It comes from Slovakia, and has been available for pre-order since 2017. That may not bode well, but it’s one of the slickest flying car solutions we see out there today.

Here’s a great little video look at all four of these “cars”:

Of course, Goodyear comes to the table with an out-there concept that it is presenting with a straight face. Now, I will admit that this fits the definition of a flying car to a “T”, but come on now! The first person who gets clobbered with the downwash and gets thrown into a building will sue the pants off Goodyear and that will be the end of that. At this point, this is as much fantasy as George Jetson.

The Chinese appear to be very serious about developing an electric flying car. More than a couple companies are producing viable entries into this marketplace. Here is the Ehang 184, a flying taxi that, as you can see here, is working very well:

And finally, speaking of air taxis, the aerospace giant Boeing weighs in with its own entry in this field — a completely automated solution, of course. While this is not a car in any sense of the word, it is intended to fly from point to point, including your driveway. The question must be asked: why drive on a road if you can fly there?

For almost 50 years now, we’ve been told the flying car is just around the corner. Where will we be five years from today, in 2023? I suspect you’ll be able to sell your house and buy a small flying car, in which you can commute from your truck camper parked in the woods to your job in the city. The real question now is going to be, can you drive it, or is it going to be just a fancy elevator with a few buttons to push so that it can fly you there while you catch up on sleep. Americans know this isn’t the way to drive. Heck even George Jetson knew enough to buy a car with a control stick.

Let’s hope that when getting there by personal air debuts, we aren’t locked out of the equation and into a box with no controls. That would test my patience.

And my aplomb.