SkyDrive Inc. of Japan has come one step closer to realizing the long-held dream of flying cars by flying their personal aircraft for four minutes in a contained setting with a person on board. The move is big enough that the company is hoping to deliver their electric flying vehicle by 2023, just under 90 years after the first flying car concept was shown at the world's fair. Unlike that hybrid vehicle, the SkyDrive flier doesn't become a car when landed but rather focuses on short-distance flying travel.

Progress

This isn't the first time that SkyDrive has attempted a controlled manned flight for the craft. Three years ago another test didn't end as well. While this test is only a milestone with many more hurdles to clear before people can hop in their own multi-rotor personal transport, it is one that not many other flying car companies have reached, and there are a lot of them.

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Crowded Field

SkyDrive's current test went better than their previous flying test.
via nyt.com

A common refrain at the turn of this century was the lament over the lack of jet packs and flying cars that the 20th Century had promised the 21st. It seems that enough people have taken this shortcoming as a call to action with over 100 flying car projects in progress around the world. These projects have attracted big investors as well, with SkyDrive alone receiving funding from Toyota, Panasonic, and even video game company Bandai Namco.

Future for Fliers

SkyDrive hopes to have a commercial vehicle ready by 2023
via thehindubusinessline.com

Japan has invested big in the three-dimensional movement future hoping that it will connect remote areas as well as make emergency services easier. Autopiloted electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft hope to clear congestion in major cities. Air traffic control issues and safety are the biggest hurdles so far for the short distance flying vehicles.

Source: TechXplore

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