A few weeks ago, I told you about Terrafugia, a company that’s on the verge of putting the first ever flying car on the market. Of course, their car is not a true flying car à la the Jetsons; it’s more like an airplane with retractable wings, making it street legal. It’s the kind of vehicle that would still require you to earn a pilot’s license, so I doubt it will become the common man’s vehicle of choice.
Well, there’s another company working on flying car designs. Advanced Tactics Inc., a California based aerospace company, is reporting the first successful test flight of their Black Knight Transformer. The technology appears to be similar to those little, toy quadcopters you’ve probably seen, but on a much larger scale. It has big rotors and big blades, big enough to lift a small truck off the ground.
According to the company’s website, the Black Knight Transformer will be used primarily by the military for quick extraction of casualties and for cargo resupply missions. The advantages of this vehicle on (or above) the battlefield are obvious. When you need to cross hazardous terrain, you can just fly over it. When flying makes you an easy target, you can drive.
Best of all, the Black Knight apparently has an autopilot feature. Articles from Singularity Hub and Scientific American suggest that means a pilot’s license isn’t necessary, leaving only one question unanswered: how soon can I buy one?
Planet Pailly 