“Where we’re going, we don’t need roads.” Upon the film’s release in 1985, Doc Brown’s immortal words felt tongue-in-cheek as he and Marty ride off in a flying Delorean at the end of Back to the Future. After all, nothing much had changed in the time that The Jetsons went off the air two decades before, and flying cars started to feel less like speculation and more like fantasy with every passing year. And despite a dozen or so working prototypes dating as far back as the 1930s — even Henry Ford prophesied a future filled with flying cars — flying cars seemed nowhere in sight. Well, the future is now. For the first time ever, a flying car has gotten legal approval from the U.S. Government.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has issued a Special Airworthiness Certification to Alef Aeronautics, a San Mateo-based company whose Model A is currently available for pre-order. Alef first unveiled its Model A concept last year. However, many cursory onlookers couldn’t figure out how this would be any different from Terrafugia’s Transition or Stefan Klein’s AeroMobil — both prototypes from the past decade or so that had considerable amounts of hype and potential. Well, for the Model A, it may have just been the timing. This current preponderance of battery-powered cars has given the vehicle an advantage for sure. While no real specs have been revealed just yet, we do know that the vehicle is 100% electric, with a hydrogen option potentially becoming available as an option as well.
Classed as a tilting biplane, the Model A is also wingless, which means it flies at a 90-degree angle with a gimbaled two-person cabin. For visibility in-flight, it has a 180-degree viewport and can fly in any direction. On the ground, however, it looks almost like a regular car, capable of driving on standard roads, fitting within lane lines, and having legal speed limitations.
Even with knowledge of flying cars “in the works” throughout the years, most of the American public couldn’t — and still can’t — conceive the real-world functionality of flying cars. And it’s important to note that the FAA is still very much working out the kinks as we speak. For now, the Model A will still be limited to certain areas and purposes. If you’re wanting to be part of history, head over to Alef’s website to preorder the car for $299,999.
