A German based company Carplane has unveiled a prototype of a flying car that it hopes to go to production in the near future. The project is funded by the European Union and the state of Lower Saxony, Germany. This serious funding sources also suggests that Carplane is actually serious in introducing the car to the public. The car/aeroplane has retractable wings and such that they can be moved into the space between the twin fuselages. This a principal improvement as previous flying automobiles came with folded wings that weren’t practical as they took a lot of space and made the vehicle abnormally large. Currently, the wings have to be stowed manually, but the company has announced that automated arrangement is not far ahead.
There are four 15" non-retractable wheels installed in the car, providing a take-off run of only 85m. The short take-off means that the car will be able to take off from improvised landing strips. The weight of the car isn't more than a compact two-seater, and the frame is small enough to fit inside a standard garage. The separate fuselage arrangement does mean that the two persons will be separated from each other. But, Carplane insists that it isn't a big deal as passenger and driver are separated in taxis all over the land travel. A 151 British Horsepower engine powers the car and the range of the vehicle is estimated to be 836 kilometers, a maximum achievable altitude of 15,000 feet and a maximum speed of 200 Km/h. On the ground, it is compliant with Euro-5 standards and it can achieve speeds up to 176 Km/h.
