Flying Cars Ready To Take Off

By: Rebecca Leung

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(Chris Matyszczyk/CNET)

For instance, Moller thinks it will be able to save people from burning buildings -- as demonstrated in his promotional video, which shows the Skycar bypassing traffic jams, extending a built-in catwalk, and ultimately saving the day.

But Moller isn't the only inventor to dream about the utility of flying vehicles. In Olney, Texas, a brand new contraption is even making cows turn their heads.

It's called the CarterCopter, and it has a large top rotor and small wings which double as fuel tanks. Propulsion is generated from the tiny secondary propeller at the rear of the plane. It can take off and land vertically like a helicopter, but can fly as fast as an airplane.

"We're doing something that a lot of people thought was impossible to do," says inventor Jay Carter, a former Bell helicopter engineer who went into business for himself. "It's the Holy Grail. You know, that has been the desire since we first started flying, to be able to take off and land vertically and then fly fast. It's going to change transportation."

And the possibilities are staggering. Instead of flying on a regular plane from JFK to LAX, the speedy CarterCopter will let you fly from a helipad in downtown New York to a helipad in downtown Los Angeles, skipping that time-consuming drive from the airport to your home.

"Even though this is a propeller driver aircraft, and we can only probably fly maybe 400 miles an hour, we can beat a jet if you talk about from point to point," says Carter. "Even if you go all the way across the United States, we can beat a jet. And when you're starting to talk about from point to point, small town to small town, and you don't have to worry about the hub, now it gets to be major!"

Carter says he will initially sell the vehicle for about $300,000. He's even got plans to give his next prototype, which appears in his promotional video, the ability to fold up its wings and drive off like a car.

If you're interested in something smaller than the CarterCopter, visit Acampo, Calif. A bizarre looking contraption called the Springtail is the jetpack for the 21st century. It's a million-dollar prototype that flies using two large ducted fans.