Photo: Greg Brown
Long time ago, the man looked up in the sky, saw the birds flying by and said “I wish I could do that”. The dream came true eventually and for a couple hundred bucks you can now fly in a plane between cities instead driving or taking the train. Still, it’s a complicated process and people now wish flying to be as easy and available as driving a car.
Engineers struggled for decades to find a solution in combining the two forms of transportation into a single vehicle - a flying car. There were many models so far, but neither one of them managed to lessen the process and/or provide the requested comfort. But the new GF7 concept here is aimed towards soving the problems if you disregard the price.
California-based designer Greg Brown and engineer Dave Fawcett from Airboss Aerospace came up with this stunning looking vehicle that almost resemble a luxury business jet. But then you see it has four wheels and the wings can fold upwards, which means it is also designed to drive on the road. And here is how the GF7 differs from previous flying cars.
It’s an electric-jet vehicle, which means you can drive from home using an electric motor fed up by a 50 kWh battery pack. You will be able to accelerate from 0 to 60 mph (96 km/h) in around 7-12 seconds and reach a maximum speed of 100 mph (160 km/h).
The battery is supposed to keep you going for around around 80-120 miles (129-193 km), but if the traffic bothers you, just pull up in any airport/airfield which has a runway of at least 2,500 ft (750 m), expand the 23 ft (7 m) delta wing and simply take off using the 3,500-lb thrust jet engine mounted at the back.
You can even save a bit of fuel by using the electric motor to put you up to speed and then let the jet kick in. Once airborne, you’ll be able to reach 38,000 ft (12,000 m) and speeds of 550 mph (885 km/h).
However, since the whole vehicle was designed to travel between large cities, the fuel will last for 700 to 1,000 miles (1,127 - 1,600 km). But you’ll fly in the same comfort a luxury car provides, with leather seats, air conditioning and other amenities. Another cool feature is that the jet engine makes enough power to also recharge the electric battery, so you won’t have any problems at your destination.
"The GF7 can increase the size of the region a person can influence in a day without the dependence on a team of support personnel," Brown told Gizmag. "It saves time by flying fast and eliminating delays resulting from startup, shutdown, transferring to a ground vehicle and backtracking to a waiting airplane. With a GF7 there is no need for travel coordinators, or a staff of pilots and drivers at the ready. You don’t need to pay for airport services, a rental car, or aircraft tie-downs, which also means you can avoid busy airports."
The vehicle is currently in its early development phase, but the team hopes to show us the first prototype in around four years. Still, don’t get your hopes too high on it to solve the way we travel, because the GF7 is said to cost between $3-5 million.
If that doesn’t meet your budget, you might have a chance in getting one of those old Aerocars for a bit less. Or wait a bit more until someone comes with the budget version. But we think that will remain the second/third class airplane ticket for a long time.
California-based designer Greg Brown and engineer Dave Fawcett from Airboss Aerospace came up with this stunning looking vehicle that almost resemble a luxury business jet. But then you see it has four wheels and the wings can fold upwards, which means it is also designed to drive on the road. And here is how the GF7 differs from previous flying cars.
It’s an electric-jet vehicle, which means you can drive from home using an electric motor fed up by a 50 kWh battery pack. You will be able to accelerate from 0 to 60 mph (96 km/h) in around 7-12 seconds and reach a maximum speed of 100 mph (160 km/h).
The battery is supposed to keep you going for around around 80-120 miles (129-193 km), but if the traffic bothers you, just pull up in any airport/airfield which has a runway of at least 2,500 ft (750 m), expand the 23 ft (7 m) delta wing and simply take off using the 3,500-lb thrust jet engine mounted at the back.
You can even save a bit of fuel by using the electric motor to put you up to speed and then let the jet kick in. Once airborne, you’ll be able to reach 38,000 ft (12,000 m) and speeds of 550 mph (885 km/h).
However, since the whole vehicle was designed to travel between large cities, the fuel will last for 700 to 1,000 miles (1,127 - 1,600 km). But you’ll fly in the same comfort a luxury car provides, with leather seats, air conditioning and other amenities. Another cool feature is that the jet engine makes enough power to also recharge the electric battery, so you won’t have any problems at your destination.
"The GF7 can increase the size of the region a person can influence in a day without the dependence on a team of support personnel," Brown told Gizmag. "It saves time by flying fast and eliminating delays resulting from startup, shutdown, transferring to a ground vehicle and backtracking to a waiting airplane. With a GF7 there is no need for travel coordinators, or a staff of pilots and drivers at the ready. You don’t need to pay for airport services, a rental car, or aircraft tie-downs, which also means you can avoid busy airports."
The vehicle is currently in its early development phase, but the team hopes to show us the first prototype in around four years. Still, don’t get your hopes too high on it to solve the way we travel, because the GF7 is said to cost between $3-5 million.
If that doesn’t meet your budget, you might have a chance in getting one of those old Aerocars for a bit less. Or wait a bit more until someone comes with the budget version. But we think that will remain the second/third class airplane ticket for a long time.
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