<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a young child in the early 1960s I grew up hanging out\nin the garage with my father, at the marina with my grandfather, and at small\nlocal airports. My interest in flying\ncars started about that time. Around\n1963 I was given a book called \u201cThe Golden Stamp Book of Automobiles of Today\nand Yesterday\u201d. I still have this book\nand the price tag on it was 42 cents. \nThe last car featured in the book was called the \u201cFord Dream Car\u201d. It was an atomic powered car that could\nfly. It was around this time that the\nUnited States was in the space race with Russia. In school, classes were stopped to watch our\nrockets being launched. As a young child\nseeing the Ford Dream Car and watching rockets being launched into space, I\nbecame very excited about flying cars. I\nwould see sports cars of the 1960s like the Corvette Stingray and tell my dad\nthat car could be made into a flying car. \nI would often draw cars with wings on them. The book I received in the 1960s has\ndeveloped into a very large collection of flying car related memorabilia,\nmodels, books, videos, and other miscellaneous items.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fast forward to the 1980s and I have my pilot\u2019s\nlicense. And my interest in flying cars\nwas still there. It was when I started\nusing small aircraft to travel that I realized how practical a flying car would\nbe. After renting an airplane, I still\nneeded to rent a car to get to my final destination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Flying cars are just about as old as airplanes. Glenn Curtiss is credited with having the first\nflying car. It was 1917 When Glenn\nCurtiss showed the world his \u201cAutoplane\u201d at the Pan-American Aeronautical\nExposition in New York City. This was\nonly 14 years after the Wright Bros first flew and just nine years after the\nModel T was introduced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over the 100 plus years of powered flight, there have\nbeen numerous attempts to build a flying car. \nIn the 1930s Waldo Waterman designed and built a 3 wheel flying car\ncalled the Aerobile. The wings were\ndetachable for ground operations. Powered\nby a water cooled, six cylinder, Franklin (Tucker) engine, in the air, it was\ncapable of speeds as high as 110 miles per hour. A prototype flew in 1937, a total of six were\nmade. As with many of Waldo Waterman\u2019s\ndesigns, this was tailless. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
After the birth of powered flight and once the average\nperson could get a pilot\u2019s license, we soon discovered that general aviation\naircraft only got you close to your destination. Once you landed, you still needed ground\ntransportation. Flying cars\/roadable\naircraft were born practically out of necessity. This is very true with Robert Fulton and his\nAirphibian. During WWII Robert traveled\na lot by small aircraft only to wait at the airport for his ground\ntransportation. He thought if only my\nsmall airplane could drive me to town. And\nin 1946 Robert Fulton designed the Airphibian. \nIt could convert from plane to car in about 5 minutes with no\ntools. It has been reported that the\nAirphibian was as easy to drive as it was to fly. It could fly at speeds up to 110 MPH and 55\nMPH on the ground. The drawback to\nFulton\u2019s design was that you had to detach the wings and leave them at the\nairport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Molt Taylor and his Aerocar made an appearance around\n1950. Molt Taylor met Robert Fulton and saw his Airphibian. Molt had a better idea. Why not make the wings fold back and form a\ntrailer? This way if you had to land\nbecause of bad weather, you could continue on to your destination with the\nwings in tow. Once the weather improved,\nreconnect the wings and you\u2019re back in the air. Two models of the Aerocar were build.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fast forward to the 21st<\/sup> century we find the Switchblade,\na 3 wheel flying motorcycle. Still in\nthe development stage, the plans are to offer the Switchblade as a kit. The Switchblade is built of carbon fiber and\nother new light weight materials. The\ncompany hopes to have a prototype flying by the end of 2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n There is a flying car that you can purchase now. The PAL-V built by the Dutch company PAL-V\nInternational BV. Their vehicle is an\nautogyro or gyrocopter that is capable of being driving on public roads. The last check of their website shows a price\nof $399,000 USD for their basic model.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These are just a few of the attempts to build and market\na successful flying car or roadable aircraft. \nOver the past 100 plus years there have been numerous attempts, some\nnever making it past the drawing stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But as the 21st<\/sup> century begins, there are many\nvisionary companies that see a world filled with cars that fly. Some are nearly\nready for production, some will be all electric, some will be based on\nmotorcycle frames. The industry is in a\ntechnological revolution, much like cars at the dawn of the last century. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As a young child in the early 1960s I grew up hanging out in the garage with my father, at the marina with my grandfather, and at small local airports. My interest in flying cars started about that time. Around 1963 I was given a book called \u201cThe Golden Stamp Book of Automobiles of Today […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p95FsX-MS","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":22,"url":"https:\/\/flymall.org\/blog\/2010\/01\/mark-my-word-a-combination-airplane-and-motorcar-is-coming-you-may-smile-but-it-will-come\/","url_meta":{"origin":3030,"position":0},"title":"Mark my word: A combination airplane and motorcar is coming. You may smile. But it will come…","date":"January 22, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"The Switchblade by Samson Motorworks By Harry Kraemer In the mid 1960s my father gave me a book on cars and in this book I saw a flying car that Ford was to develop \u2013 the Volante (this book is now the center piece of my collection).\u00a0 The space race\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Newsletters"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2961,"url":"https:\/\/flymall.org\/blog\/2019\/02\/kraemer-aviation-flymall-wheels-wings-february-2019-newsletter\/","url_meta":{"origin":3030,"position":1},"title":"Kraemer Aviation \/ Flymall Wheels & Wings February 2019 Newsletter","date":"February 20, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Welcome to the Kraemer Aviation \/ Flymall Wheels & Wings\u00a0February \u00a02019 Newsletter.\u00a0 Lots of exciting items this month.\u00a0 Click here for past newsletters.\u00a0 Click here for our February 2019 Newsletter. Looking for something we covered in the past?\u00a0 Our newsletter section is searchable.\u00a0 Just use the search box (in the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Newsletters"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/flymall.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/finalconcert-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3914,"url":"https:\/\/flymall.org\/blog\/2022\/06\/how-i-became-interested-in-aviation\/","url_meta":{"origin":3030,"position":2},"title":"How I Became Interested In Aviation","date":"June 2, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"As a young child in the 1960s my dad would take me to small airports to watch the planes.\u00a0 He loved aviation and boating.\u00a0 My dad always wanted a son that was a captain on a boat or plane. On weekends I remember hanging out at the Glenn L Martin\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Newsletters"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/flymall.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/first.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":207,"url":"https:\/\/flymall.org\/blog\/2011\/01\/chevy-camaro-and-its-many-faces\/","url_meta":{"origin":3030,"position":3},"title":"Chevy Camaro and its many faces","date":"January 7, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"From my early teens when I first started looking at cars as something I may drive and own one day, the Camaro caught my eye.\u00a0 It was the only car that I wanted at the time.\u00a0 So I saved up my money and when I turned 16 my father helped\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Newsletters"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/flymall.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Slide24-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9208,"url":"https:\/\/flymall.org\/blog\/2025\/03\/harry-kraemers-collection\/","url_meta":{"origin":3030,"position":4},"title":"Harry Kraemer’s Collection","date":"March 5, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Over the last 20 years or so, Harry and his wife Pat have assembled an awesome collection of just over 100 vehicles and rare engines. The collection is mostly 3 wheel vehicles, however, it includes, 2 wheel motorcycles, numerous bicycles from the 1800s, an airplane, a classic boat, a working\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Newsletters"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/flymall.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/50932939972_7f41ef83d0_c.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1692,"url":"https:\/\/flymall.org\/blog\/2017\/07\/flymall-wheels-wings-july-2017-newsletter\/","url_meta":{"origin":3030,"position":5},"title":"Flymall Wheels & Wings July 2017 Newsletter","date":"July 27, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Welcome to the Kraemer Aviation \/ Flymall Wheels & Wings July 2017 newsletter. You can view past newsletters by clicking here.\u00a0 Our newsletter section is also searchable.\u00a0 You can use the search box on the right side of the screen in our newsletter section.\u00a0 You can search by subject, a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Newsletters"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/flymall.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/35745157855_1fefb1ff50_z-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flymall.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3030"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flymall.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flymall.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flymall.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flymall.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3030"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/flymall.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3030\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3031,"href":"https:\/\/flymall.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3030\/revisions\/3031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flymall.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flymall.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flymall.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}