Skyrunner Enters the Burgeoning All-Terrain Flying Car Segment

11 years ago - 15 November 2013, Autoblog

Flying cars aren't an everyday sighting, but they aren't as unheard of these days as yo might suspect. Some, like the Maverick flying car, are already available to the public, while others have been stuck in the development phase for years, like the Terrafugia Transition.

And before the Transition can make it to market, another flying car will hit the scene: Skyrunner. That new flying machine makes its public debut at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show this week.

Skyrunner uses a parachute to achieve lift and doubles as an over-the-ground, all-terrain vehicle, like the Maverick. The best part? "Airports are not required," says Stewart Hamel, Skyrunner's founder and CEO. "Open fields, grass strips and secluded beaches will be the runways of choice," he says. The transition from road vehicle to air mode - which includes erecting the parachute - takes three minutes.

Weighing in at 926 pounds, the Skyrunner's 1.0-liter EcoBoost engine's 114 horsepower and 148 pound-feet of torque are enough to scoot it from 0-100 km per hour in 4.3 seconds, on to a top speed of 185 km/h. In the air, with the engine connected to the rear-mounted propeller, 88 km/h is the max speed while range is reduced from 800 km to 320. Instrumentation can be found on the sides of the dashboard and on an iPad mounted to the steering wheel.

Skyrunner is billed as a recreational vehicle, but it could have other business and governmental uses where a small, low-maintenance, simple-to-operate all-terrain and air vehicle would be advantageous. Think farming, border patrol, media coverage, etc.

It admittedly isn't as complex as the Transition but orders will start being delivered much sooner, in 2014, with an MSRP of $119,000. That's pretty steep for a car, but for a flying car/all-terrain vehicle perhaps it's worth it if you're staring down the price tag of a $279,000 Terrafugia Transition.