Every person who watched The Jetsons show in their childhood imagined that someday in the future we will be driving cars that can fly in the air too. Well, recently this dream of so many people came a little closer to reality as the Klein Vision AirCar which is powered by a BMW sourced engine managed to secure the Certificate of Airworthiness from the Slovak Transport Authority.
The flying AirCar from Klein Vision went under extensive testing with over 70 hours of air time to get hold of the Airworthiness certificate. The transforming AirCar had to make 200 takeoffs and landings on cross-country jaunts to be able to meet the standards set by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).
René Molnár, director of the Civil Aviation Division of the Transport Authority of Slovakia after awarding the Klein Vision AirCar the Certificate of Airworthiness said, “Transportation Authority carefully monitored all stages of unique AirCar development from its start in 2017,” While she also added, “The transportation safety is our highest priority.
AirCar combines top innovations with safety measures in line with EASA standards. It defines a new category of a sports car and a reliable aircraft. Its certification was both a challenging and fascinating task.”
In addition, Anton Zajac, the cofounder of Klein Vision stated, “The Certificate of Airworthiness is an official certificate issued in compliance with all EASA regulations for its member states,” Adding to it he also said, “Each member state appoints local authority to issue certificates valid across the member countries.
Hence, Aircar could fly into the UK and we do have plans to fly to London from Paris in near future. It is CoA in experimental category. We are, however, going to apply for EASA CS-23; The entire research and development has been done to comply with EASA standards. CS-23 will require production of three units, since they will be destroyed in the certification process – hence, CS-23 is order of magnitude more costly.”
The windborne Klien Vision AirCar has been under development since 2016 when Professor Stefan Klein left the Slovak air mobility company called Aeromobil to work on his own flying car from the ground up. The company started working on the concept of the AirCar and has perfected it by putting in more than 100,000 man-hours. The engineers crafted the computer-based designs into working prototypes and brought the AirCar to life.
The two-seater flying car is powered by a 140-hp 1.6-liter four-cylinder BMW combustion engine that drives both the fixed propeller when in flight and the wheels when on the road. It has a take-off speed of 115 km/h (71.5 mph), a cruising speed is 180 km (112 mph) at 2,800 rpm, and is capable of road speeds of more than 160 km/h (99.4 mph). The AirCar weighs in at 1,100kg, and it needs only a 300m stretch to take off. In addition, the car can convert itself into an aeroplane in just three minutes.
The man behind the entire company of Klein Vision, Professor Stefan Klein said, “AirCar certification opens the door for mass production of very efficient flying cars. It is official and the final confirmation of our ability to change mid-distance travel forever,”
