It鈥檚 time to drop the cynicism. OK, flying cars may have long disappointed 鈥� they are rare, slow, expensive and hampered by the need to morph between car and plane.
But a welcome revolution is brewing in the world of personal flight that has a better chance of giving us the freedom flying cars have long promised.
If you鈥檙e laughing out loud at this suggestion, then consider that billionaire Google co-founder Larry Page backs two contenders, reportedly to the , while global microchip maker Intel throws its weight behind others.
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This has been a long time coming. A patent for a flying car was filed before the Wright brothers made the first powered flight in 1903. The first attempt at an airborne automobile was in 1917, with the 鈥� like a Model T Ford with a propeller, removable wings and tail. Probably the best known flying car, the , appeared in 1949.
But all versions, even recent ones like the and , have the same drawbacks: the need for a runway and a pilot鈥檚 licence with associated medical certification. That鈥檚 why very few get made, and they cost a bomb.
Why might this not be yet another false dawn? Because today鈥檚 innovators are switching to machines that can take-off from an area not much bigger than a parking space, no runway required. This is helped by the advent of drone-like autonomous vertical take-off and landing technology.
OK, so you can鈥檛 drive them like cars. But that鈥檚 a minor quibble if they offer the potential to get from A to B with the same flexibility as a car and in a similar-sized vehicle.
New designs also address piloting and safety worries. They have many small electrically driven rotors along with software to do the hard work of flight control. This makes them easy to manoeuvre, and if one rotor fails its opposite number cuts out 鈥� maintaining stability 鈥� while the other rotors are sufficient to stay aloft.
At the same time, software is filtering through from the drone industry, making flying as easy as a video game, with simple up, down, left and right commands.
Having tried a helicopter simulator using such software I can attest to its simplicity: I learned how to fly it in 5 minutes. Throw in GPS, and these machines could be autonomous.
The fact so much is happening on this front is a good sign. Leading contenders include E-Volo of Germany, which flew its 18-rotor Volocopter in April. It has an Intel-developed flight control system. Page is backing multirotor designs at both and Kitty Hawk, two secretive firms in Mountain View, California. Others include of Santa Cruz, California, which works with NASA (itself ). And a 鈥� an autonomous, passenger carrying multicopter 鈥� is poised for test flights in Nevada.
What鈥檚 more, it could be easier to make flying cars autonomous than road vehicles. There is little to collide with in the skies 鈥� whereas roads present a potential obstacle every 30 centimetres or so.
It would be incredible if cost and reliability were nailed and flying cars finally get airborne. And if they oust the car, that would be the icing on the cake. Just imagine the changes that would bring. Or as Doc in Back To The Future, put it: 鈥淲here we鈥檙e going, we don鈥檛 need roads.鈥�
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