A new generation of flying cars is taking to the air –– without the cars
For a booming postwar America, spilling out onto vast suburban tracts and enthralled with the possibilities of new technology, the flying car was an intriguing chimera.
Attach the wings and propeller of a plane to the body of a car and drivers might pull out of their garage, motor to an open area and take off, leaving long commute times far below.
In time, of course, the flying car became a catchphrase for a future that never arrived. But could its time finally be at hand?
No fewer than 70 companies are designing, building and testing this era's version of the flying car. Just don't expect much "car." Thanks to advances in electric propulsion technology, the new designs look more like many-rotored helicopters. And while the early concepts were envisioned as personal transportation, the reality is more likely to be short-range flying taxi services in cities.
Uber Technologies Inc. has a division focused on aviation, including a
