Video: Urban Aeronautics Flying Cars Making Jetsons A Reality

An Israeli company called Urban Aeronautics is promising to produce the worlds "first" flying car by "early 2009."

The flymobile, named X-Hawk urban is about the size of a large car (or van) and if all goes according to plan will be able to "hug" the side of a building, a feat that the best helicopter is unable to perform.

(Video: A short animated film on the X-Hawk urban, VTOL aircraft. Credit: Adventure Publishing, Ltd., Via Urban Aeronautics)

(Israel Times) Founded by Dr. Rafi Yoeli, UrbanAero has established an early lead in developing a compact VTOL vehicle with no exposed rotors that is tailored to meet FAA requirements for powered lift vehicles and also capable of flying and operating inside of complex urban and natural environments. [...]

It is anticipated that X-Hawk's initial implementation will be mainly for urban rescue and medical evacuation. The variable work module, however, allows for tailor-made modifications that adapt the aircraft to an unlimited variety of tasks. Examples include utility work (i.e. power line maintenance or bridge inspection), civil policing and intra-urban or ship-to-shore taxi service, to name just a few.

There does not seem to be any indication on whether this flymobile is powered by fossil fuels (or is entirely electronic in nature), but if the former then hopefully it will be able to fuel up at the average local gas station.

If the craft turns out to be less expensive than a helicopter, then citizens worldwide may find an X-Hawk being used at their downtown hospital in the not-so-distant future.

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