What makes Klein Vision’s 142nd futuristic transport landing special is that AirCar was the first to complete the road between cities.
Starting this week, a car / plane hybrid called Klein Vision AirCar arrived in Bratislava in 35 minutes from a grass runway near Nitra. The same road takes almost 100 kilometers of driving and – ideally – a good hour. And the difference between the two modes of travel may be even more striking, as the startup intends to launch a significantly stronger version at some point in the not-so-distant future.
Head downtown!
Completing its 142nd test flight, AirCar landed on the runway at Bratislava Airport and immediately demonstrated the strength of the concept, folding its wings in just three minutes, then joining the road to the center of the Slovak capital.
The demonstration flight was otherwise done by one of the company’s founders and chief constructor. Stefan Klein designed its first hybrid car-airplane model back in 1989, followed seven years later by the Aeromobile II. In the latter case, it was already possible to switch between airplane and car mode by conversion (eg removable wings). This concept was fulfilled by the current model. Klein Vision was founded in 2011 and made their first test flights in 2018 with their current vehicle.
The first-generation prototype is a two-seater, 160-horsepower, 1.6-liter BMW-powered car that can propeller-driven to fly at an altitude of 2,500 meters at speeds of up to 190 km / h. The vehicle has an unladen weight of 1,100 kg and can carry a payload of 200 kg, for which it must burn 18 liters of fuel per hour. The model, which immediately precedes series production, is planned to receive a 300-horsepower engine with several significant improvements, thanks to which it will be able to wind the sky with 300 and be able to cover up to 1,000 kilometers at a time.
Who needs this?
At Klein Vision, they have great confidence in their concept, which is adapted to current traffic habits, but in its current state, it can only target wealthy motorists with a pilot’s license. True, this is not necessarily a small audience, as in the U.S. alone, 40,000 orders are placed for small aircraft each year. Startup executives see that if only 5 percent of these are open to a hybrid solution, they already have a case won.
Of course, they are not just working in our neighborhood to reform the journey. He doesn’t like the number of different versions and concepts, but perhaps one of the most interesting ones is the Volocopter. The German air taxi company would revolutionize short-haul transport with self-propelled aircraft and ticket sales have also started for the first flights. At the same time, the complexity of the project is well indicated by the fact that while there is no need to combine two modes of transport, Germans still need a minimum of 1-2 years to launch their commercial service.
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