The Airspeeder MK4 looks like a Formula 1 racing car with propellers.
With a prominent name in the cockpit, it should start at air races in the future - and later also be available for purchase.
Flying cars have been part of the repertoire of future fantasies for decades.
There are now even a number of prototypes that are completing test flights, others are more like normal cars that are attached to a kind of giant drone.
A flying motorcycle has even sold out, thanks in part to the (quite optimistic) promise of being able to take to the skies without a pilot's license.
And in New York a shop for flying cars has already opened.
Flying racing car will start soon - and Senna will control it
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Formula 1 racer in the air: The Airspeeder MK4
© Imago
What all these devices have in common is that they can hardly fulfill the dream of many motorists of being able to escape from city traffic vertically.
Because on the one hand they will only be allowed to fly by trained pilots with a pilot's license, and on the other hand they are only allowed to take off and land at designated airfields in most countries of the world.
For the time being, even more restrictions will apply to Airspeeder Crewed MK4 - but this does not detract from the fascination of this electrically powered air separation car with swiveling propellers.
The single-seater from the Australian company Alauda is to compete in an air racing series called EXA, which started in 2021 for the first time.
Flying racing car will start soon - with Bruno Senna as pilot
So far, however, remote-controlled drones from simulators have been competing for air supremacy.
That should change next year.
Alauda has been able to win a big name for the cockpit: Bruno Senna, nephew of the three-time Formula 1 world champion Ayrton Senna, who died in an accident in 1994.
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Up in the air: Bruno Senna, nephew of Ayrton Senna.
© Airspeeder
The 39-year-old, whose father also died in a motorcycle accident, started motorsport late due to family misfortunes, drove GP2 (2008 Vice World Champion) and Formula 1. In the cockpit of the Airspeeder MK4 he should develop the plane further and later pilot in races.
Technically, the flying monoque racer is an eVTOL, which stands for Electric Vertical Take Off and Landing - i.e. for electrically powered vertical take-off vehicles.
Many hopes are currently being pinned on this type of aircraft to be able to relieve road traffic, but none of the devices has yet made it to approval by the aviation authorities.
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Of course, this does not prevent Alauda from striving for approval for public airspace in 2026.
The current 1,340 hp racing plane, which can accelerate to its top speed of 360 km/h in 30 seconds, generates its energy from hydrogen – which is intended to ensure a range of 300 kilometers for the 950-kilo aircraft.
List of rubrics: © Imago
