History of the Flying Car
These are only the latest in a wide range of attempts to get us driving and flying in the same machine. The very first patent for a flying car was issued back in 1843 to William Samuel Henson and John Stringfellow. The “Henson Aerial Steam Carriage” was designed as a large steam-powered craft capable of transporting passengers. The design boasted a wingspan of 150 feet! Numerous attempts to fly a small prototype model of it were made between 1844 and 1847 and sadly, none of these were successful. Although the company’s publicist created elaborate prints of the craft flying over pyramids in Egypt and receiving passengers arriving on an elephant in India, the airborne carriage never made it past the drawing table.
Johann Jacob Weber / Illustrirte Zeitung
The Aerocar was the first road-to-sky vehicle that held promise. It made its first successful flight in 1949. Moulton Taylor, the designer and builder of this craft, entered into an agreement with a company to commercially produce these vehicles, but he had to attract 500 orders for this to happen. Unfortunately, only half that number placed orders. In the end, only six examples were ever built. Even so, the importance of the Aerocar was acknowledged by Disney when it created a character based on this vehicle named Franz aka Fliegenhosen in the movie Planes.
The Future of Flying Cars
Meanwhile, back in Massachusetts, Terrafugia might just have the answer to our hope for one of those futuristic looking flying cars. Plans are in development for a sleek vehicle called the TF-X, which would be a self-flying car—no pilot’s license necessary!
With the touch of a few buttons, this hybrid-electric aircraft would take off, land and fly by itself. (Although there would be manual override controls just in case you disagreed with the autopilot!) No runway would be needed, as the TF-X has rotor propellers that enable it to take off just like a helicopter. All this, and it would still be small enough to fit in a single car garage.
So, the next time you’re caught in traffic, remember that the time is coming when you might be able to push a few buttons and just fly away.
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