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To the Skies and Beyond! Prototypes of Flying Cars and Taxi-Drones

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People have always dreamed of being able to conquer the sky. With the introduction of planes and development of civil aviation, humanity has partly fulfilled this desire. Private jets, however, are only available to the crème de la crème of society, while the general public regards air travel as just a faster transportation method.

The history of the development of flying automobiles started in 1936 when car-construction pioneer Henry Ford displayed an experimental single-seat aeroplane that he called the "sky flivver". Though the project was abandoned two years later, and, in fact, it was a light aircraft rather than a car, the public became very excited that personal flying vehicles would be mass produced in the near future.

At the same time, Mr Ford himself said: "Mark my word: a combination of aeroplane and motorcar is coming. You may smile, but it will come".

Since then, the visualisation of vehicles, including flying ones have changed and multiple hi-tech companies and car producers have put their heads together to provide people with their own flying cars or taxi-drones.

© Sputnik / Pavel Bednyakov / Go to the mediabankA test drive of a drone taxi in the Small Sports Arena of the Luzhniki Olympic Complex in Moscow. The drone, developed by a member company of the Moscow Innovation Cluster, is capable of carrying passengers and cargo by air up to 100 km.
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A test drive of a drone taxi in the Small Sports Arena of the Luzhniki Olympic Complex in Moscow. The drone, developed by a member company of the Moscow Innovation Cluster, is capable of carrying passengers and cargo by air up to 100 km.
© Photo : Public domainConvair Model 118, a prototype of a flying car in flight, 1947.
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Convair Model 118, a prototype of a flying car in flight, 1947.
CC BY-SA 4.0 / Alexander Migl / Pal-V Front III Genf 2018 (cropped image)Flying car PAL-V at the 2018 Geneva Motor Show.
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Flying car PAL-V at the 2018 Geneva Motor Show.
CC0 / Johnescalade / E-volo erstflugThe world's first manned flight on an electric multicopter. The flight lasted one minute and 30 seconds and was conducted by Thomas Senkel of e-volo on an airstrip in Karlsruhe, Germany, in October 2011.
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The world's first manned flight on an electric multicopter. The flight lasted one minute and 30 seconds and was conducted by Thomas Senkel of e-volo on an airstrip in Karlsruhe, Germany, in October 2011.
© AP Photo / John LocherThe Bell Nexus 4EX, a four-duct electric or hybrid-electric air taxi, on display in the Bell booth at the CES tech show, Wednesday, 8 January 2020, in Las Vegas.
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The Bell Nexus 4EX, a four-duct electric or hybrid-electric air taxi, on display in the Bell booth at the CES tech show, Wednesday, 8 January 2020, in Las Vegas.
© Photo : Public domain / SDASM ArchivesThe Waterman Arrowbile, a tailless, two-seat, single-engine, pusher configuration roadable aircraft built in the US in the late 1930s.
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The Waterman Arrowbile, a tailless, two-seat, single-engine, pusher configuration roadable aircraft built in the US in the late 1930s.
© AP Photo / Claude ParisAeroMobil displays their latest prototype of a flying car in Monaco, Thursday, 20 April 2017.
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AeroMobil displays their latest prototype of a flying car in Monaco, Thursday, 20 April 2017.
© AP Photo / Kamran JebreiliA model of EHang 184 and the next generation of Dubai Drone Taxi is seen during the second day of the World Government Summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Monday, 13 February 2017.
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A model of EHang 184 and the next generation of Dubai Drone Taxi is seen during the second day of the World Government Summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Monday, 13 February 2017.
CC BY-SA 4.0 / Matti Blume / Audi Pop.Up Next, GIMS 2018, Le Grand-Saconnex (cropped image)A prototype of Audi's unmanned flying electric vehicle Pop.Up Next presented at the Geneva Motor Show in 2018.
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A prototype of Audi's unmanned flying electric vehicle Pop.Up Next presented at the Geneva Motor Show in 2018.
© Sputnik / Pavel Bednyakov / Go to the mediabankA test drive of a drone taxi in the Small Sports Arena of the Luzhniki Olympic Complex in Moscow. The drone, developed by a member company of the Moscow Innovation Cluster, is capable of carrying passengers and cargo by air up to 100 km.
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A test drive of a drone taxi in the Small Sports Arena of the Luzhniki Olympic Complex in Moscow. The drone, developed by a member company of the Moscow Innovation Cluster, is capable of carrying passengers and cargo by air up to 100 km.
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