Flying cars have been a dream since times immemorial. Scientists and engineers started working on this impossible dream in order to turn it into a reality. Efforts started around the globe to develop a machine which should be simple, easy to handle, manageable, light weight, compact and which can carry the human load as well. One such effort was made by Google’s co-founder Lawrence Edward Page.
Lawrence Edward Page is an American Computer Scientist and Internet Entrepreneur. He was the co-founder of Google along with Sergey Brin. He is presently CEO of Google’s parent company Alphabet Incorporations. As of March 2017, Page is the 13th richest person in the world with an estimated net worth of US $40.7 Billion.
Page’s start-up company Kitty Hawk has made the dream of personal flight a reality after the invention of the ‘Flyer’, an ultralight aircraft which has been built to take a payload of an average weight human. It is purely electrically powered and has been designed to take flights over water only. Land flights are not suitable and suggested for this machine as yet. It has been reported to weigh around 220 pounds and is an excellent machine for recreational use over water.
Being electrically powered makes it safe to use since there is no combustible fuel involved in flying this machine. The best thing about this machine is that it has been designed in such a way that anyone can handle and fly it. You can learn to fly it in a matter of minutes. Currently, the Kitty Hawk’s ‘Flyer’ is available in the United States and can be flown without possession of a flying license.
The aircraft features Vertical Take-off and Landing also known as VTOL. This feature enables the aircraft to take off and land like a quad-copter and does not require a lot of space or a proper runway to function. It takes off vertically and lands in the same fashion. It is rechargeable, propelled by 8 rotors and can fly at 25 mph at present.
Being a single pilot driven machine, safety has been given prime importance while designing and creating this aircraft. It is safe to fly with a comfortable seat and safety belts forming part of its open-air cockpit. It is so compact that it can easily fit into your garage.
This machine’s working prototype was publicly revealed in April 2017, however, it will go on sale by the end of the year 2017. The prototype was not finished from the edges and the final product will definitely look different.
Due to the immense excitement of the inventors and public, it was revealed in April 2017. Chief Engineer of Kitty Hawk has stated,
He also added, “This is not yet that product in terms of what we will say and what it can do, but I think it demonstrates a vision of the future.”
With this invention, the budding ‘flying car’ industry will receive a major boost in the right direction. More entrepreneurs and engineers will come forward to try their hand at the concept and before we know it, we might actually one day have cars flying everywhere around us. There are currently a lot of start-ups working in this direction and the Kitty Hawk’s Flyer is just one exciting product in the flying cars industry.
In the times to come, there will be a lot of competition in this field as already there are a number of companies which have either launched or announced a launch of their product related to air mobility. The future holds great promise and we can hardly wait for flying cars whizzing around us soon.
