BMW is most known for its ultimate driving vehicles, but the German carmaker experimented with aviation engines for a decade before unveiling its first four-wheeled vehicle, the 3/15 Wartburg, in 1928. The spinning propeller symbol on BMW’s insignia dates back to the company’s industrial beginnings in 1916, so it’s fair to assume the brand knows a thing or two about engine manufacture in general.
Recently, a BMW-powered flying automobile has been generating a lot of buzz on the internet. Klein Vision, a Slovakian technology and transportation business, has developed the AirCar. Although it isn’t a BMW-branded flying automobile, it does feature a BMW gasoline engine.
https://armadillo-space.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com/3b2547d8-ed21-4d5b-995b-56adfcfedc1f.jpeg
The Aeromobil 1, a three-wheeled aircraft with a canard-type shape and four lift surfaces, was created by Klein Vision founder and CEO Stefan Klein in 1989. However, owing to its modest breadth, it failed to provide “ideal results” during its practical driving test, therefore Klein created the Aeromobil II in 1996, a transforming car-slash-aircraft with an upgraded design for airworthy on-road performance.
Klein Vision AirCar: Making a Dream Come True
Klein Vision is a company that specializes in providingKlein Vision was formed in 2017 by Stefan Klein and Anton Zajac, an entrepreneur and co-founder. The AirCar was quickly built by the couple, who used brand-new technology and twelve patents to change the vehicle from a car to an airplane and back.
The AirCar is a four-wheeled vehicle with retractable wings, a folding tail, and a parachute system. It conducted its first inter-city travel between the Nida and Bratislava international airports in June 2021, after completing its initial inaugural flight in 2020.
It also completed almost 40 hours of test flights under the supervision of the Civil Aviation Authority.
“AirCar combines cutting-edge technology with EASA-compliant safety procedures,” stated René Molnár, head of the Civil Aviation Division (Transport Authority of Slovakia). “It establishes a new category of dependable airplane and sports automobile.”
Klein Vision Certificate of Airworthiness
In January 2022, the AirCar took the crucial step toward becoming a mass-produced flying automobile from a mere flight of fancy. After 70 hours of flight testing with over 200 takeoffs/landings and a complete range of performance and flying maneuvers, the Slovak Transport Authority and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) awarded the AirCar a Certificate of Airworthiness.
The Klein Vision AirCar is now legally allowed to fly over Slovakia. More crucially, it implies that the AirCar, the world’s first flying automobile, is getting closer to mass production. “The vehicle was the ultimate of freedom fifty years ago,” said Klein Vision co-founder Anton Zajac. “AirCar pushes those boundaries farther by transporting us to the next level, where the road meets the sky.”
Klein Vision’s BMW powerplant
The Klein Vision AirCar is powered by a 140-horsepower 1.6-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine developed by BMW, with a range of up to 621 miles (1,000 km) in the production version. It can also rise to 8,200 feet and cruise at 186 mph (300 kph). Fingers crossed, the AirCar might be pre-approved for flight in the next twelve months, with manufacturing beginning in mid-2023, according to Klein Vision.
The two-seat AirCar prototype was developed and tested by the Klein Vision engineering team over 100,000 hours. However, the business has made significant headway in developing a new line of dual-mode automobiles.
Anyone up for a ride on a flying boat?Klein Vision is a company that specializes in providingIf all goes according to plan, the AirCar will spawn into four different forms. Klein Vision is developing a two- and four-seat AirCar, as well as a twin-engine, high-performance vehicle and a flying boat idea. We don’t know whether the flying boat will have four wheels like the AirCar, but Klein Vision seems to have covered all the bases when it comes to satisfying humanity’s desire to fly.
The Terrafugia Transition, a comparable flying vehicle with two seats, foldable wings, and a gasoline-hybrid drivetrain, is also on our radar. After completing 80 days of flight testing in February 2021, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued the Transition a Special Light-Sport Aircraft (LSA) airworthiness certificate.
