The dream of flying over traffic

This dream would save us a lot of time.

Imagine being stuck in an endless traffic jam, traffic stopped, horns everywhere, now think that with a simple command you could raise your car off the ground and simply fly over the traffic, that futuristic dream of humanity that has been in the collective imagination for decades seems to be finally becoming an impressive reality.

The American startup Alef aeronautics has just taken a concrete step to transform the skies into airways, after 11 years of development the company claims to have made the first documented flight of a real flying car capable of taking off vertically without the need for a take-off runway, in this official video published by al mode A appears parked on a street with a pilot on board slowly and a sudden cut appears in the air floating over a parked car before landing gently

A drone disguised as a car

Unlike previous videos with demonstration images, this time it happened, it did fly, but there is something strange about this test, the video does not show the complete takeoff there is no audio available which raises doubts about the noise of the elices which must be extremely loud and the quality of the recording does not seem suitable for a Revolutionary demonstration.

Despite these observations the company claims that its prototypes have been flying for years, but only now have they decided to release images according to CEO Jim Dukhovny. The company has focused on safety, ensuring that the vehicle is truly ready for consumers before showing it to the public, but is this really a flying car or are we just looking at a drone disguised as a car.

Unlike other attempts at flying cars that look more like giant transport drones, Alef's proposal is a car that circulates through streets and highways, but that takes off vertically like a drone, without the need for a runway. Mode E, the production version of the vehicle will have an innovative feature that will change its position in the air by rotating its body 90 degrees and transforming the sides into wings like a futuristic biplane, this could increase the flight range and make air travel more efficient.

Aircraft capabilities, safety and regulations.

Among its specifications are the range in the air of 177 km per charge, maximum distance on land 320 km and maximum speed on the ground 40 km per hour, that is, it can fly short distances, but it moves slowly on Earth, as a result it will not be able to be registered as a conventional car but rather as a low-speed electric vehicle, something similar to a super-technological golf cart.

As exciting as this Innovation may seem, Alef must overcome multiple technical and regulatory challenges before we see flying cars in urban skies, although the company signs that all systems will have triple or eightfold redundancy, any failure in a Flying car can be fatal, for emergencies it will have ballistic parachutes, but the viability of this resource and a real situation is still questionable.

How will flying cars be integrated into urban traffic without causing chaos and risk for people on the ground, the rules for these vehicles are still being defined and will greatly limit the use of this technology, the price is astronomical 300,000.0 per unit, alef has already received more than 3,330 pre-orders. but even so this price restricts access to a very specific elite.

Making a vehicle fly is already a great challenge, now adding a rotation system in the air that transforms the body into wings is something unprecedented in Aviation, Alef will be able to execute this project safely and efficiently, the truth is that they have already managed to capture the attention of the world and that is no coincidence, the dream of the Flying car is more alive than ever, but we will really see this technology and our lives in the coming decades.

If the company manages to solve the technical challenges, reduce costs and obtain the necessary regulation, we could witness a revolution in urban transportation. On the other hand, if these barriers prove insurmountable, E mode could become another futuristic concept that will never see the streets or the skies and then what is your bet, are we ready for the era of flying cars or are we still far from that future.