Google’s co-founder Larry Page has helped unveil a brand-new flying car with a difference.
Unlike most flying cars, the Opener Blackfly can be flown by anyone because it doesn’t need a pilot’s licence. It can be steered using a single joystick and even comes with the ability to take-off and land by itself.
One of its most distinctive features however is the design. Looking like a UFO from a 60s sci-fi show, the electric aircraft’s curved bottom not only makes it incredibly easy to land on a hard surface but it also means it can land on water.
You can see the first footage of the Blackfly in flight below:
While flying cars might currently be the reserve of tech billionaires, they are slowly but surely heading towards being usable and affordable for the rest of us.
According to Opener, the first few aircraft will be expensive, but as they become more popular the hope is to bring the cost down to that of a sports utility vehicle.
The Blackfly uses eight electric propellors to give it thrust while two large wings then allow you to steer the aircraft.
It has a range of around 25-miles and Opener say it can be charged both by solar power and fast-charged like an electric car giving owners 80% of charge within just 25mins.
Page’s company has been working in secret for around nine years, and has now racked up over 1,200 hours of testing and a whopping 12,000+ miles flown.
One of the key features of the BlackFly is that it has been designed to be incredibly safe. As it can be flown without a pilot’s licence, Opener have instead said each owner would have to go through a short training induction.
In addition the aircraft is packed full of emergency backups so that if the motors or battery fail there’s always a backup to help it land safely and quickly.
Opener haven’t revealed anything around when it’ll go on sale or how much it’ll cost but one of the biggest hurdles will be the regulators themselves.
While many companies have created fully-functioning flying cars, the rules around using them legally have yet to be updated.
For now, we can just watch the footage and keep our fingers crossed that the flying car won’t just turn into the hoverboard all over again.