A Flying Car, Aeromobil 3.0 Experimental Prototype Crashes Injuring The Pilot

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A Flying Car, Aeromobil 3.0 Experimental Prototype Crashes Injuring The Pilot

May 10, 2015 - On Friday the Slovakia manufacturer, Aeromobil was test flying its flying car, the Aeromobil 3.0 experimental prototype when it crash at Nitra Airport (LZNI) just after takeoff.

The roadable aircraft was piloted by owner, inventor and designer, 54-year-old Stefan Klein who was able to walk away from the crash with minor injuries, although he was taken and released from the hospital for complaints of elbow and minor back injury. Through social media Klein reported he was ok.

It was reported the flying car had entered into a spin at or about an altitude of 985 feet, at which time Klein deployed the flying car's ballistic parachute which cushioned the impact, the aircraft received impact damage to the forward fuselage. The company said the "data from the test flight will be evaluated and implemented in further development of the flying car".

On Saturday AeroMobil released a statement "The AeroMobil 3.0 experimental prototype is currently undergoing a rigorous analysis and testing program. During one of the test flights that took place on May 8, 2015, the inventor and test pilot, Stefan Klein, encountered an unexpected situation and activated the advanced ballistic parachute system in an altitude of approximately 300 meters (900 feet).

"The system has proved itself fully functional and landed the entire vehicle without any injury to the pilot. The detailed data and overall experience from this test flight will be thoroughly analyzed and the results will be used in the ongoing R&D and improvements of the prototype. Testing of the current prototype 3.0 and further product development will continue after the replacement of the damaged parts.

"In the process of developing new vehicles, especially in the prototype phase, the possibility and likelihood of an unexpected situation is a natural part of the testing program. This is a learning period which allows us to detect and subsequently refine our design. It is necessary to test the prototype in every way possible to establish its limits and to improve on them. The flight recording details will help us learn from the data and improve the performance of the vehicle prior to our next flight test."

The Aeromobil 3.0 can be driven like a car and once the wings are fully extended it can be operated as an aircraft. The flying car has a cruise speed of 124 MPH with a fuel range of 430 Miles and a fuel consumption of regular gas at 15 liters or about 4 gallons per flight hour. The Aeromobil is expected to be available in 2017.