Flying car gets airworthiness certificate from FAA

Flying car gets FAA certification

On June 12, 2023, the Federal Aviation Administration issued a Special Airworthiness Certificate to a flying car model from Alef Aeronautics. The certification allows the aircraft to fly in limited locations for purposes including exhibition, research and development.

Alef, a company out of San Mateo, California, is designing and developing a road-legal passenger car capable of achieving vertical takeoff and forward flight. In general, the company wants to alleviate congestion and stressful commutes by giving more drivers the option of circumventing traffic jams.

The founders – Constantine Kisly, Pavel Markin, Oleg Petrov and Jim Dukhovny – have been working on building a flying car since 2015. Ultimately, they created their first full-size prototype in 2019. Their first product, the Model A, should be able to fit two occupants. Moreover, it will have a driving range of 200 miles and a flight range of 110 miles. Plus, you can already put in a pre-order for the flying car. Currently, its expected price is around $300,000. Likewise, Alef estimates delivery of the first flying cars to be at the end of 2025.

The Model A’s design

The team at Alef has designed its flying car to fit into existing infrastructure, such as a typical parking space. According to Alef’s press release, the Model A has:

… a distributed electric propulsion system, no exposed propellers, extensive software flight stabilization and safety system, elevon stabilization system, and all wheel driving. Key safety components include triple to octuple redundancy of all key components, real-time thousand-point diagnostics, pre-flight reject start diagnostics, obstacle detection and avoidance among others.

More views of Alef’s flying car

Here's something new under the sun … a flying car! Alef Aeronautics is developing a car that will also be able to takeoff vertically and fly forward to help you skip over traffic jams. It just received FAA certification. pic.twitter.com/p51QR3xhnQ

— Kelly Kizer Whitt (@Astronomommy) July 5, 2023

Bottom line: The FAA has given a Special Airworthiness Certification to a flying car developed by Alef Aeronautics. The company envisions a car that can rise above traffic jams.

Via Alef Aeronautics

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