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| A prototype of a Dutch flying car at the headquarters of the PAL-V firm, which is aiming to deliver its first car in 2018. (AFP Photo/EMMANUEL DUNAND) |
Raamsdonksveer
(Netherlands) (AFP) - From "The Jetsons" to "Chitty Chitty Bang
Bang", flying cars have long captured the imagination.
While
several futuristic projects are under way in different countries, a Dutch
design may be the first one sold and soaring into the skies.
After years
of testing, the PAL-V company aims to pip its competitors to the post. It is
poised to start production on what they bill as a world first: a three-wheeled
gyrocopter-type vehicle which can carry two people and will be certified for
use on the roads and in the skies.
"This
kind of dream has been around for 100 years now. When the first airplane was
invented people already thought 'How can I make that driveable on the
road?'," chief marketing officer Markus Hess told AFP.
The PAL-V
(Personal Air and Land Vehicle) firm, based in Raamsdonksveer in the
Netherlands, is aiming to deliver its first flying car to its first customer by
the end of 2018.
The lucky
owner will need both a driving licence and a pilot's licence. But with the keys
in hand, the owner will be able to drive to an airfield for the short take-off,
and after landing elsewhere drive to the destination in a
"door-to-door" experience.
Different
versions of a flying car are being developed in the Czech Republic, Slovakia,
Japan, China and the United States.
But final
assembly on the PAL-V will start in October, with the company seeking to be the
first to go into commercial production.
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A simulator
demonstrates the PAL-V flying car, which can fly 400 to 500
kilometres (248 to
310 miles) at an altitude of up to 3,500 metres (11,500 feet)
(AFP
Photo/EMMANUEL)
|
'No
falling from sky'
The PAL-V
uses normal unleaded petrol for its two 100-horsepower engines, and can fly 400
to 500 kilometres (248 to 310 miles) at an altitude of up to 3,500 metres
(11,500 feet).
On the road
it has a top speed of around 170 kilometres an hour.
In 2019,
the company expects to produce between 50 and 100 vehicles, before ramping up
to "quite a few hundred" in 2020.
It won't be
cheap. The first edition, the PAL-V Liberty, costs 499,000 euros ($599,000),
while the slightly cheaper PAL-V Liberty Sport, to be made next, has a price
tag of 299,000 euros.
PAL-V was
founded in 2007 by Robert Dingemanse and pilot John Bakker.
"In
the beginning it was, let's make a gyrocopter drivable," said Hess.
But the
company, which has some 40 to 50 employees, realised the weight and length of a
gyrocopter's blades gave the vehicle a high centre of gravity when driving,
especially taking corners.
They have
designed the car so at the flick of a button the blades fold down and gather
like a bat's wings on the top.
And they
have incorporated into the car a 2005 breakthrough -- when the Dutch company
Carver invented a tilting system for three-wheelers -- to counter the high
centre of gravity and make it roadworthy.
The company
insists the PAL-V is not a helicopter, in which the blades are powered by an
engine. It is a gyroplane, in which the blades rotate thanks to airflow.
Even if
both engines cut out, the blades will still turn, so "even if you go at
zero speed it still keeps rotating and you are not going to drop out of the
sky," said Hess.
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Chief
Marketing Officer Markus Hess of flying car developer PAL-V says
the firm
expects to produce several hundred cars by 2020 (AFP Photo/
EMMANUEL DUNAND)
|
'Selling
a dream'
While he
refused to divulge how many orders they have, he said the company "was
more than satisfied".
Clients put
down a non-refundable deposit of 10,000 to 25,000 euros depending on the model.
A third option is to put 2,500 euros into an escrow account, which secures them
a place in the line.
"In
some senses we are selling a dream," Hess said, standing next to the
sleek, black first model developed in 2012 which has already put in
"substantial hours" of flying and driving time.
Parts are
on order, with the first already in stock. Once built, the vehicle will have to
complete at least 150 flying hours, and undergo extensive tests to receive its
certification from the Cologne-based European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).
Hess
defended the hefty price tag. It's not a lot more than "a super-duper
sports car with a few extras," he said.
"Considering
the extra certification standards we have to go through for aviation, and that
a super-duper sports car can't even fly, we think it's actually a
bargain."
The PAL-V
staff know many inventors in other countries also developing flying cars, but
remain unconcerned by the competition.
And Hess
laughs when asked whether the skies will become too crowded.
People at
first "cannot even imagine flying cars. Then suddenly when they start
imagining it, they see millions of flying cars in the air."
That new
reality, for the time being, is still a long way off, he said.
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