A flying car shows up in New York
The Milner Motors AirCar carries two occupants on the road or in the air.
(Credit: CNET Networks/Sarah Tew)At long last, a promise made in the 1950s is kept: we now have a flying car. Well, sort of. Milner Motors showed off a non-flying but driveable prototype of its AirCar at the 2008 New York auto show. As a plane, the AirCar has a 28-foot wingspan and can cruise at 200 mph for 1,000 miles. It is pushed by two rear-facing ducted fans powered by two rotary engines. That's the plan, anyway, as the fans on the prototype are only mock-ups. For the driving portion, each wing folds on two hinges over the top of the AirCar, reducing the width to 7 feet. The AirCar is fitted with a 40-horsepower engine that drives it on the ground at speeds up to 85 mph, although we have to assume that it will take you awhile to get up to that speed. The cabin of the AirCar carries two occupants, and its flying weight is a maximum 3,000 pounds.
Two ducted fans, fake on the prototype, power the AirCar.
(Credit: CNET Networks/Sarah Tew)
