Is it a flying car or a driving aircraft? Either way, the Personal Air and Land Vehicle, or PAL-V for short, has just proved it can handle the skies as well as the highway, both at up to 112 miles per hour, its Dutch developers said Tuesday.
The PAL-V is a gyrocopter that can fly as far as 315 miles at an altitude of up to 4,000 feet. When it lands, it tucks away its rotor-blades and turns into a road-legal three-wheeled vehicle with a range of 756 miles.
“In future, you will be able to drive from home to the airport, take off, land and then drive to your destination in one go,” said Robert Dingemanse, chief executive of the company, also called PAL-V. In development since 2008, the first commercial models of the arrow-shaped PAL-V are expected to go on sale in 2014 for $330,000 to $400,000.
“The successful maiden flight of the PAL-V prototype was conducted at a Dutch Air Force base last month,” added the head of the company, based in Raamsdonksveer near the eastern city of Nijmegen. ”It will revolutionize the era of personal air travel,” said Jacco Hoekstra.
Edited from Dutch ‘Flying Car’ Takes to the Skies
