Driving Technology: Flying Cars (End)

The future of transportation technology is certainly one of the most adventurous and fun to imagine with things such as self driving cars and holographic display systems slowly becoming a reality, but one of the absolute coolest and most fun thing that humans have wanted for the longest time is to fly. The flying car probably brings back memories of the Jetsons or Back to the Future which I must say were some of the best things to watch when I was growing up. While to many of us a car that can go from land to air is still just a magnificent dream, but very soon this dream could become a reality for many, and is already a reality for some. Over the past few years work on a flying car has picked up and the results of such work are surfacing in the form of consumer ready vehicles just waiting to take your money in return for the wonderful freedom of travel.

Terrafugia recently created a transforming automobile that with the flick of a switch grows some wings and is ready for flight. The company plans to bring the vehicle to consumer production by 2012. When not in use the wings fold up to the side of the car and it can be driven on the roads like any other normal drive. But if you come to a nice stretch of land or road taking off is as simple as pulling back on the throttle, getting up to 88mph speed and taking flight into the blue skies above. It is unfortunate that this version of the flying car and probably many after it will require wings to work but in the future you can be certain that we will have hovering models exactly like in Back to the Future. Who knows, maybe the Delorian will even make a comeback. Until that time though we must make use of what we have, large foreign looking cars with pop out wings that require a pilots license to fly. While we may not have flying cars out to the average consumer just yet, we do have other options.

There is of course the Hover Bike which you can read about in my previous post HERE but if you are afraid of flying or just prefer water there are a few options designed with you in mind. The Swiss company Rinspeed have made a very Bond like car known as the Squba which when driven into water transformers into a submarine and as a bonus is zero emission due to running on all electric. Obviously there is a small issue with people requiring something known as air to breath or something but the company has thought of everything and included some breathing apparatus's in the glove compartment for your sensitive lungs. Once under the water, fins come out of the sides for steering and a propulsion system similar to what you find on a jetski take over jobs of the wheels and engine. The vehicle is open top so anything inside will get wet (make sure you bring a change of clothes) but once your done just drive back up on land and your good to go flying down the highways.

Today marks the end of my Driving Technology series and I hope you all enjoyed what I have written. My final question to you is do you think flying cars will become a reality and how soon? Leave your comments in the box below and as always, have a great day.