Science fiction books and movies predicted long ago that we wouldn't ever face the traffic jam again, because we would all drive flying cars. Although it still looks like a fantasy to most of us, the concept of the flying car or aerocar has already been put into practice. I don't know how many of you have heard about Moulton Taylor's Aerocar, built in 1949, but it seems that was the most successful flying car design to date. This was the only certified airplane in history that could be legally driven on US roads. Unfortunately, only six models were built and it never entered production.

Inspired by Taylor's Aerocar, a San Diego company called Leigh Aerosystems is engaged in developing a two-seat flying automobile called High Road. This is great merge between a modern car and a small airplane and has a very interesting and futuristic look when driven on the road.

It is a three-wheeled automobile said to reach a cruise speed of 180mph at 15,000 feet above the ground. Other key flight operational performance goals are a 20,000 feet ceiling and 500 mile range. For the road, the projected performance is 25 mpg fuel consumption and a 500 mile range.

Inventor Stephen Harris tested a model earlier this month at the San Diego Low Wind Tunnel. The experiment seems to have been a success, the car proving to the world that it could really fly. “We were extremely pleased how the data came out, we believe we have a practical airplane.” said Harris.

Leigh Aerosystems specializes in developing weapon systems and drones for the military, which provides them the expertise that a project like this requires. The company is currently seeking outside investment in order to rapidly move forward to certification and production of the “High Road” model.

In fact, this is not a complete novelty. At the beginning of March 2009, another flying car, Terrafugia Transition, had its first flight at Plattsburgh International Airport. It will probably be a while until we see one of these flying above our heads, but it still remains a fascinating idea.  

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