Flying Car Sets Off for the Sahara
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Think back to when you were a kid, watching endless re-runs of Chitty-chitty Bang-bang. Truthfully, how many times did you close your eyes and wish for a flying car? And how many times have you been on a tortuous lengthy road trip wishing you’d flown? Well, very soon, you could have the best of both worlds, just like British inventor Giles Cardozo.
He has painstakingly constructed a flying car, and it works! Amazingly well. Given the not-very-inventive name of ‘Skycar’, this biofuel-powered motor is able to go from 0 to 60 mph in just 4.5 seconds. Add a powerful fan to the back and it has a lift-off speed of around 45 mph. Not bad for what is technically a dune buggy.
Designed to convert from car to aircraft within minutes, the Skycar is fitted with a paraglider-style canopy and uses parajet technology, which took 18 months to develop. Once airborne the nippy little Chitty can cruise 2-3,000 ft above the ground for a range of 160 miles, and up to 15,000 ft altitude.
The Skycar team took off on its inaugural flight from London, England this morning, a trip that will see the flying contraption crossing France, Spain and the north of Africa, crossing the Sahara before landing in the Malinese city of Timbuktu.
Neil Laughton, an ex-SAS man, will head expedition and be followed by a ground suppoet team of 13 people. They plan to arrive in Timbuktu on February 20, all things going well.
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Science/Tech