In the early Sixties there was an American animated space age sitcom titled ‘The Jetsons’, which was produced by American company Hanna Barbera Production in opposition to the rock age success series ‘The Flintstones’.
This theme may rekindle memories for some: The Jetsons Theme Alternatively it will show you how much animation has developed in the last fifty years.
It’s funny when you look back at the series and some of the things that seemed so far off in the future are now a part of our normal everyday life, except maybe for the flying car.
Well, that may have been the case, but quite possibly not anymore if Professor Stefan Klein and his Slovakian company Klein Vision has its way.
On June 28th this year, with Stefan Klein behind the controls, the two-seater Klein Vision AirCar completed its 142nd successful landing after completing a 35-minute, 72-kilometre test flight from Nitra International Airport to Bratislava International Airport in Slovakia.
Unlike other drone-like electric flying cars that Uber and others are investigating, the AirCar is more of a traditional concept of an aviating automobile as it has stow-away wings that fold into the side of the car and an elongated tail that retracts into the car body.
Powered by a BMW 104kW 1.6-litre petrol engine and weighing 1100kg, when flying the AirCar has a claimed top speed of 200km/h, a range of 1,000km’s and maximum altitude of 2,500m. On the road, drive is sent to the rear wheels via an automatic transmission, while in the air it’s diverted to a fixed rear-mounted propellor.
Not a lot has been reported of its on-road performance, which I’m guessing isn’t anything out of the ordinary, but in theory it has a power to weight ratio of a 1.5 litre Mazda MX5.
Klein Vision are now reported to be developing three- and four-seater variants alongside a twin-engine model and to keep ‘The Jetsons’ dream alive, a flying car with amphibious capabilities. This video follows the recent June 2021 fly and drive of The Klein Vision AirCar.