Traffic Jams - A Thing of the Past

How will one feel when the car that he/she drives on normal roads will also be able to fly? We're assuming quite good . This was probably the main concept that the Wilthshire-based company named Parajet used when the flying road vehicle was designed.

The company is hoping to create a viable vehicle, entitled as “Road Sport”, that will be able to fly as well as travel like normal cars. The company will attempt to complete a 3,700 mile journey by both air and land to Timbuktu in Bali, scheduled early next year; once the journey will be successfully completed, Parajet will look at starting to retail this “Road Sport” vehicle starting from 2010.

Mostly based on a off-road buggy, the prototype comes with a back-mounted jet propeller in order to provide the movement while in air, and a folding parafoil wing that uses the most recent advances in aerodynamic technology and materials, all which add to help the vehicle glide, the same way as a man-powered glider.

In line with the current fuel crisis and with environmental concerns, the buggy will be powered by a 140 bhp bio-ethanol engine, same type of engine found on the Yamaha R1 super-bike, obviously with some changes. The result consists of a 245cc engine, weighing only 11 kg and producing a maximum power output of 48 bhp at 9000 rpm while remaining only 130 mm wide in diameter.

“It is an incredible and tiny engine which produces zero vibration so it’s ideally suited to the light weight airframe of a para-motor,” Parajet said.

Responsible for putting that power onto the road, the engine is mated with a CVT(constant variable transmission) gearbox borrowed from a snowmobile.

Parajet claims that the performance figures, on land, are just 4.5 seconds for the 0-62 mph time, and a top speed of around 111mph, although the “Road Sport” is expected to be even quicker.

With a required speed and distance, in order to reach full take-off, of 35mph and 200 meters, the vehicle will be ideal for short runways, as PistonHeads mentions, on off-road terrain, while reaching an air speed of up to 80mph and an altitude of around 15,000 feet.

With a price tag for the first retail version of £35,000 to £60,000, for a high-performance sports version, the vehicle is expected to be quite an exciting pilot-license free, cheap transportation method, via air or ground.