AirCar on its way from Nitra to Bratislava (source: Courtesy of Klein Vision)
Visionary designer Štefan Klein is meeting his 20-year dream today – to sit in a flying vehicle in Nitra and fly to Bratislava airport and then drive the vehicle transformed into a sports car down to the city centre to have a cup of coffee in the cult Verne café just next to the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava where he teaches. At precisely 6:00 on Monday, June 28, he safely landed with his AirCar at the airport, ready to carry out the rest of his plan later during the day.
“It was a comfortable flight; the weather was beautiful, everything worked well,” said Klein after the smooth landing, adding that it took him some 25 minutes to fly 80 km from Nitra with a small circle above Senec where the D1 highway was getting clogged with cars during morning rush hours. “This is exactly the advantage of the AirCar – you never get stuck in a traffic jam.”
It was exactly freedom of movement which inspired the designer some 32 years ago to start designing a flying car. Now, this utopian idea for many people is becoming reality.
The Nitra-Bratislava flight
the distance was some 80 km
170 km/h average speed
the flight lasted some 25 minutes
this was the so-far longest flight of AirCar in the terms of distance
“With today's flight we wanted to demonstrate the capabilities of this experimental prototype as well as prove that the idea behind this means of transportation is realistic,” said Klein, adding that this was the first flight of the vehicle between two international airports.
After the flight, the vehicle will undergo a mandatory after-flight check. Then it will transform into car mode and continue to the city centre on the ground to demonstrate all of its modes.
After the first test flight at Piešťany Airport last year, this was the first public presentation of the vehicle flying.
