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 (Stock photo/Remi Goc)
Flying Cars Closer to Becoming a Reality
NOVEMBER 17, 2009John Roach, MSNBCFrom Santa Claus' sleigh to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, flying contraptions with the convenience of the personal automobile have long filled our fantasies, according John Brown, editor of RoadableTimes.com, a Web database of flying cars. That fantasy, he predicted, will become a reality in the form of an "everyday practical flying car" within the next five years.To date, nearly 1,500 flying car designs have at one point or another been worked on and 152 cars have actually flown, Brown said. Every major aerospace and auto manufacturer, from Boeing to BMW, are among the serious tinkerers.The problem is that "nobody has come up with anything elegant enough, yet" to satisfy consumers, he added. But they're getting close. Check out six designs that might someday soon send you soaring over traffic jams.Prototype "Transition" Takes to the Air
X-Hawk Eyed for Combat and Rescue Missions
Flying Car Guru Plugging Away
Skycar Flies from London to Timbuktu
Motorcycle-Gyrocopter Hybrid Under Development
AirCar Envisioned for Long-Distance Commutes
© 2009 msnbc.com
Reproduced with permission of MSNBC, from The reality of flying cars: These six designs might soon help you soar over traffic jams by John Roach, November 3, 2008; permission conveyed through Copyright Clearance Center, Inc.
You can read this story in its original location and view more photos at: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33676074
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