The First Commercial Flying Car: At last, there’s a flying car on the market that looks like it came straight out of a James Bond movie – two models to be exact: the PAL-V Liberty Pioneer and Liberty Sport.
PAL-V, a manufacturer in The Netherlands formally debuted the first commercial flying car on February 13, 2017, and already has pre-orders in the works. Manufacturing will commence later this year with delivery of the first models slated for late 2018. The sticker price starts at a cool $400,000 USD for the base model but climbs higher as you add on the bells and whistles: power heating, an electronic flight instrument display, a customized interior, and so on.
For the higher-end Pioneer model, PAL-V is also offering financing options in order to widen the product’s reach into the market and is planning for 90 Pioneer models to be completed and delivered in 2018.
By Design
The sleek styling of PAL-V Liberty is the creation of leading Italian design agencies that delivered an exciting cockpit feel on the road as well as in the air. The two-seater cabin with lowered suspension tilts into the curves of the road. A retractable, motorized propeller tucks inside the body and the rotor blades fold up neatly while in driving mode.
The prep time for flight is a mere 5 to 10 minutes for unfolding the two blades, pulling out the tail section and putting the propeller into place. The rotor has power assist to initialize the spin, but the rotor is completely wind powered in flight. The propeller, mounted behind the cockpit, is motor driven with 200 horsepower. This combination of rotor and propeller makes the Liberty not only one of the safest to fly but one of the easiest to operate for new pilots. It flies at 11,480 feet (3.500 m).
Upon landing, the pilot can easily pack away the flight components and begin driving to his destination. The vehicle is 6.6 feet (2 m) wide, and the blades are 35.3 feet (10.75 m) when unfolded. Empty, the Liberty weighs 1,413 pounds (664 kilograms).
PAL-V also has a mobile app that provides estimated travel times from airport to airport, time savings calculations, recommended fueling stops based on trip distance, etc.
Liberty operators will require both a driver’s license and a pilot’s license. Takeoff requires roughly 100-650 feet x 60 feet (90-200 meters x 20 meters) and should be clear of nearby obstacles, which means small grass or concrete airstrips, glider sites or ultralight airstrips are necessary.
In the Air
With a maximum airspeed of 112 mph (180 km/h), the gyrocopter will fly for 310 miles (499 kilometers), which is ample for quick jaunts between airports.
On the Ground
The PAL-V Liberty has a top ground speed of 100 mph (170 km/h) and goes from 0 to 60 in 9 seconds. It has a 26-gallon (98-liter) tank that takes premium gasoline. It can travel 817 miles (1,315 kilometers) between fill-ups, giving it a fuel efficiency of 31 mpg (13 km/l). The liberty engine delivers 100 horsepower performance.
Reaching for the Sky
This flying car started on the drawing board about 16 years ago. Now, PAL-V attributes the perfecting of their DVC tilting technology in 2005 for carrying the Liberty concept through to the market in 2017. No major compromises in road or air performance were required. Indeed, PAL-V has created something that’s equally fun to operate on the road as in the air.
To borrow heavily from a popular phrase, the sky is no longer the limit – thanks to the PAL-V Liberty.
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Mitch Launius
Instructor Pilot for 30 West IP
Mitch is the CEO of 30 West IP where he is also an instructor providing pilot training on international procedures. With an illustrious career of over 34 years in the cockpit, Mitch has acquired over 13,000 hours of flight time flying worldwide, with over 9,000 hours of this in Challenger and Gulfstream aircraft. He is an experienced safety officer and was also an IS-BAO project manager for a fortune 500 flight department. He has presented on Safety and Operations topics at the NBAA International Operators Conference and the Canadian Business Aviation Association Convention and is currently on the NBAA International Operators Committee and serves as the North Atlantic Regional Lead. Mitch is also a member of an FAA working group on General Aviation International Authorizations and Tabletop Exercises (GIATE). He was recently selected to represent IBAC as a member of the ICAO Personal Training and Licensing Panel (PTLP) and was also recently named as a 2020 recipient of the NBAA Tony Kern Professionalism in Aviation Award for his contribution to the business aviation community.
Henry ‘Duke’ LeDuc
Director Of Operations, Americas, UAS International Trip Support
Duke has been a dearly respected member of UAS Americas team and the UAS global family for more than five years. A safety-oriented, FAA-licensed aircraft dispatcher, he oversees all of the operations of the elite UAS Operations Team. With twenty-five years of experience in aviation overall with more than fifteen years of experience in international flight planning and VVIP trip coordination, he is responsible for the development of the dispatch training program and involved in the strategic development of UAS Americas. With a myriad of rich aviation experience behind him, he has extensive experience in worldwide operations with both corporate and charter environments, including seven years as Operations/Dispatch Manager in an industry-leading, Fortune 500, IS-BAO Stage III Certified corporate flight department. Duke is frequently asked shares his knowledge at major industry events and is currently serving on the NBAA’s International Operators Conference (IOC) Planning Committee.
Dudley King
President and Founder, FlightBridge
Dudley is the Founder and President of FlightBridge, which he established in 2011 and has been focused on technology solutions for the private aviation industry since 2006. Since he graduated from Dartmouth in 1988, he has worked with an array of companies listed anywhere from VentureWire to the Fortune 100. A rare blend of executive, entrepreneur, and consultant, Dudley’s executive roles have included acting CIO positions for several companies and tech advisory services to CEOs trying to rebuild their technology organizations or looking for an external, professional point of view. Highly skilled at deeply understanding his customer’s business challenges and drawing from a long and varied experience in information technology services, Dudley excels at designing technology solutions to solve their problems.
Dr. Paulo Alves
Global Medical Director, Aviation Health, Medaire
Paulo has extensive experience in medical advisory in the aviation industry. As a cardiologist, he provides technical guidance and analysis for MedAire’s MedLink medical advisory service and is MedAire’s liaison with civil aviation regulators and industry associations. Paulo worked with Varig Brazilian Airlines for 23 years, 10 of which were spent as General Medical Manager. A member of the MedAire Medical Advisory Board, Paulo is also President of the Ibero-American Aerospace Medical Association, a member of the International Academy of Aerospace Medicine, a member of the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) Safety Committee, a Fellow of the Aerospace Medical Association (AsMA), and a Fellow of the Civil Aviation Medical Association. Throughout his illustrious career, Paulo has held industry leadership roles including Chairperson of the AsMA’s Air Transport Medicine Committee, President of the Airlines Medical Directors Association, President of the Brazilian Society of Aerospace Medicine and was a member of the IATA Medical Advisory Group from 2002 to 2006.
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