As global automakers vie to bring the first flying car to market, Czech pilot Pavel Brezina is trying a different tack: instead of creating a car that flies, he has made a "gyrodrive" -- a mini helicopter you can drive.
The engineer and owner of Nirvana Systems, a company producing motors for small flying machines, insists his vehicle is the first in the world authorised to operate both on roads and in the air.
His GyroDrive vehicle is based on a gyroplane -- a mini-helicopter -- that uses a copter-style rotor to move up and down, and an aeroplane-type "pusher propeller" to go forward.
Brezina's company buys gyroplane kits from a German firm, and then assembles and equips them with a system allowing the pilot-driver to switch between a petrol engine propelling the rotors and an electric engine that drives the wheels.
The two-seat GyroDrive has a maximum driving speed of just 40 kph (25 mph) and can take its crew of two on short drives to a petrol station or a hotel.
It needs less than 100 metres (110 yars) to take off and reaches a top speed of 180 kph in the air. Its flying range is 600 kilometres.
After landing, the pilot only has to fix the main rotor blades along the axis of the GyroDrive and pull out a built-in licence plate to transform it into a road vehicle.
Prices start at 1.5 million koruna (57,000 euros, $63,500), but they can reach four million koruna, depending on specifications.
In neighbouring Slovakia, the AeroMobil company says it has received dozens of orders from customers for a flying car expected to hit the market in 2020.
He told AFP that AeroMobil initially plans to produce 500 units of its winged car, which uses a turbo propeller to get off the ground.
The AeroMobil is expected to reach a top ground speed of 160 kph and up to 360 kph in the air, with a flying and driving range of some 700 kilometres.
In mid-May, Japan's Toyota also unveiled plans to launch a three-wheel flying car dubbed SkyDrive using retractable wings and drone technology.
The vehicle is expected to have a top flight speed of around 100 kph, hovering around 10 metres off the ground. It will have a top land speed around 150 kph.
