Dutch helicar takes maiden flight

AMSTERDAM: Flying cars are the Jetsons dream that never came true. But wait, some Dutch dudes have cobbled together a weird helicar contraption that combines all the worst, most impractical elements of car and helicopter into one amazingly expensive prototype.

On the ground, this thing — called the PAL-V One — has three wheels and tilts as you corner; it’s not a car, as such; it’s more a weird enclosed motorcycle. Like almost every other impractical flying car, you have to stop and unfold parts before you can even attempt to fly it. Then, you only get to take it up to 4000 feet (1219m) or less because of the way it’s licensed for flight.

On the plus side, it does hit 180km/h, both in the air and on the ground, and you can get away with topping it up with good ol’ gasoline. There’s no word at the moment about when it will be commercially available, but if it follows the path of some of its rivals — like Terrafugia — we’ll be in for a long goddamn wait.

Speaking of which, Teraafugia reportedly hit a “major milestone” itself last week, as its first production prototype took to the air. It suggests that it might even have a model for sale some time this year.