TOULOUSE – Aerospace giant Airbus has announced the first successful flight of its self-piloted flying car in the US state of Oregon.
Vahana – a full-scale electric vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) craft – reportedly reached a height of 16 feet before landing safely at a site in Pendleton.
Airbus said the flight took place Wednesday and lasted 53 seconds. A second flight took place on Thursday.
The aircraft, which Airbus has been developing for less than two years, is designed to carry one passenger and fly autonomously, according to its website.
The Vahana team had previously said it was aiming for speeds as much as four-times faster than road traffic, with a flight range of about 50 miles.
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“Vahana aims to democratise personal flight and answer the growing need for urban mobility by leveraging the latest technologies in electric propulsion, energy storage, and machine vision,” Airbus said in its statement.
The Vahana team developing the drone-like craft said development of “sense and avoid” technology would be key to achieving desired safety levels.
Autonomous driving technology has made considerable progress in recent years with high-tech firms and established automakers putting test vehicles on the roads, while a handful of inventors and start-ups have developed flying cars.
