Screenshot from YouTube
The three-wheeled flying car made from the Netherlands has acquired the approval to drive on roads, making it legal for them to operate on the highways of the standard cars.
The car is named PAL-V Liberty which costs £270,000 (US $349,000). It has been permitted to be registered as a car by Europe's motor vehicle operator, MailOnline reported.
Currently, there are already 80 orders for the three-wheeled flying car and its makers hope that by 2022, they could also sell the flying car as an aircraft. According to The Times, the first prototype of this flying car flew in 2012, while the final version will be built in India. Those who wish to use this 110mph flying car would need a basic pilot license to take control.
Now Legal to Operate on Highways
Liberty is a two-seater car that can be converted from a three-wheeled car to a gyrocopter in just ten minutes and can go from 0 to 60 miles per hour in only eight seconds. In 2017, it was selected by Maxim magazine who would most likely be the first real flying car operating on major roads.
According to Liberty's chief technical officer Mike Stekelenburg, they have been cooperating with authorities for years for Liberty to be able to drive on highways. The whole team is excited, noting the challenges they faced in making the folded aircraft to pass all road admission tests.
Liberty is made from carbon fiber, aluminum, and titanium and weighs 1,500 pounds. It requires a 540 feet runway to take-off and 100 feet for landing. Also, it fits with the same handling system as a motorbike which would need the driver to tilt the vehicle with a control stick on land and in the air.
Moreover, the flying car is also foldable as its blade folds down, and gathers like the wings of the bat on the top when a button is pressed.
Other countries like China, the Czech Republic, Japan, Slovakia, and the United States have already showcased their versions of flying cars in the previous months. Also, Porsche and Boeing are planning to launch their air taxis in 2022, Lad Bible reported.
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Using Proven Technologies
In 2019, PAL-V's CEO Robert Dingemanse said that their years of hard work finally paid off when they reach this momentous milestone. He also noted that in making their flying car, they had incorporated proven technologies that are fully compliant with existing regulations.
"While other flying car manufacturers' concepts require modified regulations and in many cases not yet existing technologies, PAL-V deliberately chose to engineer, design and build a flying car with proven technologies and fully compliant with existing regulations," Dingemanse said.
Liberty is infused with the 2005 breakthrough technology of the Dutch company Carver, who invented the tilting system for three-wheeled vehicles, to make the Liberty roadworthy by countering the high center gravity of PAL-V.
Unlike helicopters, Liberty is not a helicopter that is powered by an engine. Instead, it is a gyroplane which has blades that rotate due to airflow that even if the engines are cut off, it can still turn.
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