“Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” is an amazing film full of magic. As a kid I was so excited seeing cars flying in the air and coming to rescue the good from the bad guys. That entire week I had dreams of flying my own car.
At that time Flying cars may have been a dream, but now it is a reality. It is going to change the way the world currently operates. Corporate world is going to go gaga over it, and how they are going to mint money. But think how it is going to help save lives by transporting patients to hospitals in fraction of time what it currently takes.
Flying cars can drive on Road and fly in the air. Companies around the world are competing to develop commercial jetpacks, flying motorbikes and personal air taxis. Rideshare company Uber is very ambitious about its Elevate project. There has been news across the globe where successful test flights have been conducted.
A prototype flying car has completed a 35-minute flight between international airports in Nitra and Bratislava, Slovakia. This hybrid car-aircraft, AirCar, is equipped with a BMW engine and runs on regular petrol-pump fuel.
The Japanese company SkyDrive conducted a four-minute test flight of its flying car prototype in August 2020.
Similarly there are many other new startups across the world investing time and money, and had successful test runs.
There are many benefits of a flying car such as less traffic on road, saving on fuels, less time to travel, etc. etc. But it is not going to be easy in a shorter run. There is still some advancement required in terms of technology to make it usable for the public. But I do not think that day is far, maybe another 10 years or less.
Flying cars also comes with its own challenges including, Infrastructure, Security, training of driver/pilot, safety concerns, etc. The evolution of flying cars will demand new policies and standards to regulate transition and handoff periods between manual and autonomous vehicle control and the complex transition between ground and flight dynamics (e.g., for takeoffs/landings). Keeping those challenges in mind and also considering the fact that flying cars are inevitable, Aviation agencies are rushing to draw up regulations for flying cars.
May be another 5-10 years, we will be seeing cars flying by our home. Affordability is a big question, but at the same time we need to have a good infrastructure to regulate flying norms.