[dropcap size=big]I[/dropcap]f you thought the open road was the ultimate in freedom, how about the open road and open skies? That dream is now possible with the Aeromobil 3.0; it’s both a car and a plane built by Slovakian company Aeromobil. The car-plane is the “child” of Stefan Klein and Juraj Vaculik who, as students in Soviet-controlled Bratislava, used to sit on the banks of the Danube and gaze longingly towards the West and freedom.
The two-seater Aeromobil is the world’s first fully transformable flying car. It drives along the road like a roadster; it flies like a small aircraft. Its two wings fold back behind its main cockpit, and a back-mounted propeller tucks in between the retracted wings, when on the road.
The transformation from roadster to plane takes minutes. Its maximum flying speed is 130kmh, can reach an altitude of about 1.4km and has a range of 700km – nearly equivalent to that of a flight from Singapore to Medan in Indonesia. And it could be commercially released as early as 2017.
Great invention – but will it ever take off in Singapore? Well, if the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore gives it the thumbs up, we see it as the next big boys’ toy.
