Legendary Musician Is the First Passenger Onboard the AirCar Flying Car

Jean-Michel Jarre, who has also been referred to as the godfather of electronic music, became the first civilian passenger onboard the world's only flying car. It's a prototype of a flying car, but a flying car nonetheless – so none of the eVTOL (electric takeoff and landing aircraft) business here.

AirCar was formally introduced in 2019 as the creation of Stefan Klein, who is also the co-founder of the company that built it, Klein Vision. The AirCar is a proper flying car, a vehicle designed for dual-mode transportation: it's a car on land and a light two-person aircraft in the air.

In January 2022, the AirCar received a Certificate of Airworthiness and has since completed over 130 hours of flight, making 520 successful takeoffs and landings. As of this week, it has added another notch on its belt by taking the first civilian on another – its second, so far – intercity flight. The fact that the civilian in question was a music legend only adds weight to the impressive achievement.

Klein Vision notes that Jean-Michel Jarre flew on the AirCar from Piestany to Nitra (in Slovakia), where he performed as the opening act of the 2024 Starmus festival, aptly called "The Bridge from the Future." Sir Brian May of Queen was also present – for the musical event, not the historic flight.

The AirCar also went on display at Starmus, offering attendees a good look into what Klein Vision describes as the future of mobility.

Because of its dual mode of transportation, the AirCar aims to cut travel times by a half, for the simple reason that you can drive it to any airport, take off in it, and then take it back on the road once you arrive at your destination. Inventor Klein believes it will bring the same kind of freedom the automobile brought in its early days, just as much as he believes that the production-ready version will hit the market sometime next year.

The AirCar being used now is Prototype 1 and it's powered by a 160-hp BMW engine mounted in the rear and a propeller mounted behind the cockpit in a pusher configuration. It can cruise in the air at speeds of 119 mph (190 kph) and altitudes of 8,200 feet (2,500 meters), but figures for its road use were never advertised.

Prototype 2 will be able to fold the wings into the body for road transportation and will feature a 300-hp engine with a variable pitch propeller. At least in theory, Klein says it will be faster and with a longer range – 186.5 mph (300 kph) and 621 miles (1,000) km, respectively. He's also considering making 2 and 4-seater variants, and maybe even an amphibian version at some point.

For the time being, though, the AirCar is jumping through hoops to get proper aircraft certification. Even if it does make it to market sometime in 2025, its use will still probably be limited because regulation for flying cars is non-existent.