‘F1 flying cars’ are conducting their first practical test; Watch

The Airspeeder Flying Car Championship, with prototypes made by Alauda Aeronautics, performed its first real flight test before the inaugural race, scheduled for later this year. The model, called Alauda Mk3, was tested in South Australia, where civil aviation authorities were able to monitor and verify the aircraft, and approve it at the end of the process.

The first three races will feature remotely piloted aircraft. The company is planning a manned model for 2022.

According to the company, the Mk3, which has no pilot space, can reach top speeds of 200 km / h, weighs 130 kg and can accelerate from 0 to 100 km / h in 2.8 seconds. It also has a removable battery for quick replacement while drilling is off. Pausing for this purpose can be done in about 20 seconds.

The Mk3 can fly from 10 to 15 minutes on one battery, so in 45 minutes, pilots must land in a pit stop three times.

According to the founder of the two companies, Matthew Pearson, the cars communicate with each other, and therefore have an anti-collision system. The intent is to allow the planes to get as close as possible without crashing into each other.

“There is some kind of structure to avoid collisions, but we want to give the pilots as much freedom and control as possible,” he said. “So locating the barrier between the driver and the machine is going to be a really interesting thing.”

Pearson said he has a different focus than other companies developing flying cars: “We may be competing before anyone can participate in commercial operations.”

“The important thing in our program is to keep the vehicles in continuous development cycles. So instead of trying to build a vehicle and then adopt it over 10 years, we try to build new planes every year. Aviation really works normally. Not the way you do it.”