Japan's SkyDrive Inc conducts successful test flight for 'flying car' with a person aboard

Japan's SkyDrive Inc., one of the companies working on flying car projects all around the world, carried out a successful 'test flight' on Friday, August 28 with one person aboard.

According to the reports, the all-new flying car sported a look similar to a slick motorcycle with propellers lifting it several feet off the ground. In addition to that, "the flying car" drifted in a netted area for four minutes. 

Tomohiro Fukuzawa, heading the project at the SkyDrive, said he hopes "the flying car" can be converted into a real-life product by 2023. He further acknowledged that testing it for safety was critical.

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'The flying car'

“Of the world’s more than 100 flying car projects, only a handful has succeeded with a person on board,” the SkyDrive Inc. official told Associated Press. Fukuzawa hopes that many people would want to ride it.

He said the new machine is able to fly around 5 to10 minutes but he thinks that if that can be brought to 30 minutes, it will have more potential and will be beneficial for exports too. As per reports, these vehicles offer quick point-to-point personal travel and could easily do away with the hassle of airports and traffic jams. One of its unique features is it could fly automatically without the requirement of any pilots. 

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However, on the other hand, these vehicles also do have cons which include its battery sizes, air traffic control, and other infrastructure issues for bringing them into the market.

Sanjiv Singh, professor at the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, told Associated Press, “If they cost $10 million, no one is going to buy them. If they fly for 5 minutes, no one is going to buy them. If they fall out of the sky every so often, no one is going to buy them.”

The SkyDrive project started its operations in 2012, with funding by top Japanese companies which includes Toyota Motor Corp., Panasonic Corp., and video-game developer Bandai Namco. As per reports, the recent project by the company has received a funding of 3.9 billion yen ($37 million), including from the Development Bank of Japan. The Japanese government stressed its potential for connecting remote areas and providing lifelines in disasters.

(Inputs/Image: AP)

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