For the past century, men have been dreaming of flying cars. Many attempts have been made to make the complexity of flight simple and user friendly. Cell Craft thinks that it may hold the answer with its G440.

As it stands, the FAA requires at least $6000 and 40 combined hours of instruction and solo flights in various conditions before issuing a private pilot license which will allow a person to take passengers in single prop aircraft. These requirements put flight out of reach or just make it undesirable for many people. So the drive to make a flying car which is accessible to the normal person has been the dream of many and there have been some very notable attempts. Hit the jump to find out what I’m talking about.

The man who is thought to be the “Father of the Flying Car” is Glenn Curtiss, who in 1917 developed the Autoplane. It was made of aluminum and had a wingspan of 40 feet that was driven by a 4 blade prop at the back. While it never actually flew, it did hop around a bit. Perhaps he could have used it to jump over a cow loitering in the road. He recieved a paten for his Autoplane in 1919. Other attempts such as the Airphibian by Robert Fulton, the ConvAirCar by Consolidated Vultee and the Aerocar by Moulton Taylor all met an end due to lack of funding.

The next contender however, has some wind beneath his wings and plenty of Hollywood media to help drive his vision. Gino d’Ignazio Gizio and Dr. Paul Moller have been developing the Cell Craft since Gino first sketched the concept in 1996. The latest design from Cell Craft is the G440. It seats 7 and is a culmination of all the previous designs from Cell Craft. Their G416ef design was geared toward civilian flight and can seat 5. The G420 is the sports car of their line with speedy personal transport in mind. It is capable of flying at speeds of 580 Km/h with a range of 855 Km. Their last design is the G500. It is the largest of all the Cell Craft and is designed for EMT operations. The cargo area in the G500 can fit 2 stretchers and with a quick modification to the cargo area, room for 4.

The Cell Craft G440 is powered by 4 compressors driven by 2 motors. The minimization and simplification of the controls to fly a craft like this was one of their biggest goals. The G440 is able to VTOL (vertical take off and land) and is controlled by only 2 levers on the arms of what they call the “Smart Chair”. The lever on the right controls the direction and the lever on the left controls the power of the G440. All vital warning lights and meters are dispalyed on top of the sticks and there is a forward HUD (heads up display) showing altitude, speed and GPS to name a few.

When asked if the Cell Craft would hard to fly Gino replied,

absolutely not, it is very easy to fly, indeed its design was made mainly to solve some important approaching between pilot and the machine, further the aircraft is provided with a special system capable to correct within a fraction of seconds any irregular or dangerous maneuver made by a student pilot maintain it smooth, in brief the aircraft is capable to protect itself and the pilot.

While flying this craft will require a bit more aptitude than driving a car, it is still no where near the skill required to fly a modern day prop or turbo-fan aircraft.

Right now Cell Craft, G440 has no set production date. Moreover, I have no doubt that the red tape from the FAA will circumference the earth many times over, I do believe we are looking at the personal flight revolution. I suspect this will be showing up in the military long before us civilians get to give the controls a shot but I still find it all very exciting. What will the skies of the future look like? If scenes from The 5th Element are any indication, it will be a busy sky where at any moment a beautiful model will come falling out of the sky into the back seat of cabs all over the world. Cabbies everywhere will have a shot at hooking up and saving the world.

I can’t wait to fly a cab.