Wow! This car will make you forget every vehicle you ever covetted
People just love their cars. From small cars to big ones, diesel monsters to EVs and more, drivers have their firm favourites in all segments. However, now, it is time for them all to throw their fancies out of the window and instead gawp at this 9-meter "car" and put it on to in their new list! And no, it is not from Ferrari, Masterati Porsche, BMW, Mercedes, Lexus or whatever! No, it required thinking out of the box with air on mind rather than tarmac.
Boeing Co said on Wednesday its flying car prototype hovered briefly in the air during an inaugural test flight, a small but significant step as the world`s largest planemaker bids to revolutionise urban transportation and parcel delivery services. Boeing is competing with arch-rival Airbus SE and numerous other firms to introduce small self-flying vehicles capable of vertical takeoff and landing.
Boeing Co said on Wednesday its flying car prototype hovered briefly in the air during an inaugural test flight, a small but significant step as the world`s largest planemaker bids to revolutionise urban transportation and parcel delivery services. Boeing is competing with arch-rival Airbus SE and numerous other firms to introduce small self-flying vehicles capable of vertical takeoff and landing. Image source: Reuters
The investments, fuelled by leaps in autonomous technology as much as frustration with road congestion, could change the face of the aerospace industry within the next decade. Boeing's 30-foot-long (9 meter) aircraft - part helicopter, part drone and part fixed-wing plane - lifted a few feet off the ground and made a soft landing after less than a minute of being airborne on Tuesday at an airport in Manassas, Virginia, Boeing said. Future flights will test forward, wing-borne flight. Image source: Reuters
Major hurdles to Boeing`s vision of "low-stress" mobility - as it is called in the company`s marketing materials - include sorting out numerous critical safety and regulatory issues to meld traditional roadway traffic with fleets of flying cars. Image source: Reuters
Boeing is working with startup SparkCognition Inc and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to develop a traffic-management system for three-dimensional highways, as well as the regulatory framework that will allow waves of autonomous vehicles to zip safely around buildings, the company has said. Image source: Reuters
Boeing bought Manassas-based Aurora Flight Sciences last year to speed development of a fleet of autonomous air vehicles. With Aurora, Boeing is also working on Uber Technologies Inc`s [UBER.UL] UberAIR service for flights that are planned to be available for order via smartphones around 2023. Image source: Twitter/Boeing
Boeing is looking to achieve a range of 50 miles with two flying car variants capable of carrying two and four passengers each. Tests are planned for later this year on a package-hauling version that can lift up to 500 pounds (226.8 kg). Image source: Twitter/Boeing
Competitors range from Airbus, which says it has already conducted numerous flying vehicle test flights, to Volocopter, which has tested drone taxis that resemble a small helicopter powered by 18 rotors, and AeroMobil, with a stretch-limousine concept that can turn into a fixed-wing aircraft. Vertical Aerospace, which completed a flight test last year, aims to offer short inter-city flights in the coming years with a piloted aircraft capable of carrying multiple passengers. Image source: Twitter/Boeing