The SD-03, a one-seater flying car made by a Toyota-backed startup called SkyDrive, accomplished its first public, crewed test flight. The pilot flew it around the indoor Toyota Test Field in the city of Toyota for a few minutes, hovering several feet off the ground. The successful first-go paves the way for a full commercial release of the vehicle, perhaps within three years.
Tomohiro Fukuzawa, Representative Director of SkyDrive, said:
“We want to provide the convenience and enjoyment of travel by utilizing the sky for everyday travel. Five years ago, there were various prototypes of flying cars, usually with fixed wings. Our product is one of the most compact in size and was lighter compared with other designs.”
There are many flying-car-based projects in the works around the world now, but SkyDrive’s SD-03 is one of the only ones to be flown by a person on board. Also, it’s considered the smallest VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) vehicle on the planet.
The company writes in a press release:
In the near future, the compact size is considered to be effective so that it will spread as a new means of daily transportation, and it is designed to fit in two general parking lots. Our goal is to develop the world’s smallest flying car model, approximately 2m high, 4m wide, and 4m long.
There is a total of eight rotors with two propellers on each corner, which help ensure safety because if one fails, there are still seven left to land with. Of course, the chief concern is safety. But the security of the individual flying alone is not enough. Moving forward, some severe planning will have to happen regarding air traffic regulations for such vehicles before anyone will be allowed to take to the skies in a flying car.
Another challenge to overcome is the vehicle’s flight time – which at the moment is only five to ten minutes. The SkyDrive team is hopeful that they’ll increase that figure to thirty minutes very soon.
The company expects a two-seater commercial version by 2023 that will cost about $300,000 to $500,000. Mr. Fukuzawa says that price should decrease by 2030. To have its vehicle ready by 2023 lines up with Japan’s timeline for launching a flying taxi service. The opportunity to beat road traffic by hopping on a short-haul aircraft in crowded cities is right around the corner!
Derya Aksaray, a University of Minnesota assistant professor of aerospace engineering and mechanics, said:
If this becomes successful. I think that would definitely create a different means of transportation. We are going to benefit a lot by reducing congestion and overcoming the geographical constraints of ground mobility.
Humanity is on the brink of a new mobility revolution, much like when the invention of the automobile first took root.
