People Are Calling Kitty Hawk Flyer the First Flying Car [VIDEO]
The Kitty Hawk Flyer may have more in common with Luke Skywalker's X-34 Landspeeder than it does a flying car, that's still pretty awesome.
The Flying Car. An invention that has eluded man for far longer than science fiction writers and the general public expected. Ever since George Jetson took to the skyway, people have assumed that the flying car is just around the corner. Yet here we are still waiting for the flying car, two years beyond the time 'Back to the Future' predicted they would be the standard form of transportation.
Cool factor aside, I've always been more concerned with the "how" than the "when" in regards to the flying car. Once we have them, how do you keep the skies from turning into absolute disaster areas? How would you route traffic? I've always imagined the sky would look like the GIF below:
Now imagine that those cars are in the air over your home. No thanks.
Now that I've addressed my personal phobias, let's get on to the business of the day -- The Kitty Hawk flyer. Many clickbait-y outlets are hailing it as the "birth of the flying car" in exaggerated headlines, but yeah -- it looks like we might be getting close. The Silicon Valley-based outfit Kitty Hawk describes their invention as such:
The Kitty Hawk Flyer is a new, all-electric aircraft. It is safe, tested and legal to operate in the United States in uncongested areas under the Ultralight category of FAA regulations. We’ve designed our first version specifically to fly over water. You don’t need a pilot’s license and you’ll learn to fly it in minutes. We publicly revealed the working prototype in April 2017. The official Flyer will be available by the end of the year.
While it's really more of a hovercraft -- it's still pretty damn cool. Maybe this will evolve into a proper flying car, but we're not there yet.
Side note: The YouTube comments on the video are filled with classic levels of decapitation skepticism and snark. Check them out if you have a few.