History of the Flying Car From 1841 to Now

[Mike484]

The 1841 Henson Aerial Steam Carriage

William Samuel Henson and John Stringfellow—the Wright brothers before the Wright brothers existed—patented this flying car in 1841. The duo were never able to build a functional version of their monoplane, which had a theoretical wingspan of 150 feet.

 

[Mike484]

The 1917 Curtiss Autoplane

Glen Curtiss' Aeroplane debuted at New York's 1917 Pan-American Aeronautical Exposition. The Autoplane had an aluminum body, plastic windows, and a heater for passengers. However, the first World War sidetracked Curtiss and the plane never flew.

 

[Mike484]

The 1923 Pitcairn PCA-2

Autogyros are the true predecessors of flying cars and Harold F. Pitcairn's PCA-2 was sold on the mass market. It was the first rotary-wing aircraft to achieve type certification in the United States, and in one promotional stunt landed on the White House lawn during Herbert Hoover's presidency.

 

[Mike484]

The 1937 Waterman Aerobile

Waterman modified a 6-cylinder upright, 100 hp Studebaker to build this flying car in 1937. Only five Aerobiles were produced, though Waldo Waterman attempted to manufacture roadable versions throughout the '40s and '50s.

 

[Mike484]

The 1947 ConVairCar Model 118

The ConVairCar, Model 118 flying car was not a hoax, as evidenced by this test flight in California in November 1947. Theodore P. Hall designed this creation for the Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Company. The one-hour demonstration flight ended early due to low fuel, an emergency landing that destroyed the car and damaged the plane's wings. Everyone survived—that is, everyone except the ConVairCar dream.

 

[Mike484]

The 1959 Ford Levacar

Where the Ford Mach I Levacar is going, it doesn't need roads. Shown at the Ford Rotunda in Dearborn, Michigan, in 1959, the single-seat concept car scrapped wheels and touted a top speed of 500 m.p.h. None of the cars were ever built, much to society's dismay.

 

[Mike484]

The 1966 Aero-Car

With its folding wings, the Aero-Car was the first promising road-to-sky vehicle. Prototypes could reach 60 mph on the ground and 110 mph in the sky. How close did we come to living in a flying car world? Disney even designed a character in its 2013 film Planes after the thing. The Aero-Car made it.

 

[Mike484]

The 1973 AVE Mizar

Weld a Cessna Skymaster to the top of a Ford Pinto and boom: You have a flying car. The AVE Mizar used both the aircraft and car engines for takeoff, while four-wheel breaking allowed the car to land safely—in theory. A '73 test flight followed by an ugly crash ended the AVE dream quickly.

 

[Mike484]

The Sky Commuter (c. 1990)

For $71,500, you could own the Sky Commuter concept car, developed by Boeing engineers in the '80s. Run on a gas turbine engine and helicopter-like drive shafts, the Commuter was an alternative to planes-strapped-to-cars of the past. Boeing spent $6 million developing the car, though it only appeared in history books.

 

[Mike484]

The M400 Sky-car

Meet the true Jetson vehicle. A "VTOL" (vertical take-off and landing) flying car, the M400 is the life's work of inventor Paul Moller. Unfortunately, the road to commercial success is still long (and bumpy). In 2003, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed civil fraud action against Moller for selling the unregistered shares of stock directly to the public via the Internet, raising approximately $5.1 million from more than 500 investors nationwide. Moller International was hit with a $50,000 fine, though it remains active today.

 

[Mike484]

The Flying Maruti

Indian inventor A.K. Vishwanath's swears his Flying Maruti can fly. Or will. The car, with a Suzuki hull, rotor blades affixed to the roof, and extended wheelarches that create a 'vacuum section,' is the wishful thinking of Vishwanath's company B'Lorean, a portmanteau of his home of Bangalore and the DeLorean from Back to the Future.

 

[Mike484]

Terrafugia's Transition Roadable Aircraft

You can buy a Terrafugia for $196,000, but delivery will take awhile. Since taking its first flight in 2009, Terrafugia has tinkered with the TRA's specififcations in order to meet Federal Aviation Administration standards. A third version of the craft that meets consumer needs should be built within two years.

 

[Mike484]

The AeroMobil 3.0

The AeroMobil website emphasizes its prototype's beauty and simplicity. If flying cars were allowed on the roads, this is the one you'd want. Fitting into a standard parking space, using regular gasoline, and capable of taking off and landing using any grass strip or paved surface just a few hundred meters long, the AeroMobil 3.0 is a realistic future prohibited by laws. For now, AeroMobil is slowly winning over authorities. In 2010, the flying car received certification from the Slovak Federation of Ultra-Light Flying (SFUL) as authorized by the Civil Aviation Authority of Slovak Republic. http://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/news/aeromobil-flying-car-crashes-during-test-flight/ar-BBjKA8n

 

[Mike484]

Aero

NASA aerospace engineer Ilan Kroo's eight-prop personal flying machine is sleek and Apple-esque. It is The Now... but still a flight of fancy."The Zee-Aero would be great," flying car engineer Dezso Molnar tells Kolter. "It'd be the real-deal commuter model. But right now it's only theoretical. And even if they did get it into production, it would cost millions of dollars."

 

[kolibri282]

Airphibian

Airphibian

from here:
http://www.airphibian.com/index.htm

 

[Steve_UK]

A long gestation and still a million miles away from being a norm ( or from seeing a return on investment! ).

Maybe one day we will get to live in a Blade Runner life, but not in mine I suspect :wacko:

 

[kolibri282]

Another Concept Vehicle

Another Concept Vehicle

http://www.google.co.ao/patents/US5984228

 

[Smack]

AeroMobile crash

AeroMobile crash

Mike you might add an addendum that the AeroMobile prototype crashed May 9th. Hmmmm, maybe "landed under its emergency parachute rather than on its wheels" is more informative...
Brian

 

[All_In]

I made a Nisan fly. Does that count?

 

[kolibri282]

I made a Nisan fly. Does that count?

I think it does if:
a) you covered at least the distance the Wright brothers did on their first flight.
b) you walked away from the landing....;-)