Are flying cars available for rent?

For many years scientists and geeks alike have been trying to create a sensible flying car, it has to look and drive like a car, then spread its wings and fly!

You might think that is not too much to ask, but it is proving more difficult in practice, however, there may be light on the horizon. DARPA has announced that they’re asking the relevant companies to bid for the contract to build one, they want it ready by 2015 or thereabouts, so if 2012 comes and goes without a global cataclysm, then maybe, just maybe we’ll have a flying car. !

Terrafugia, a Boston startup, has already made history with a 30-second test flight of its “flying car,” which they say is more like a small plane you can drive home from the airfield. The Transition, as it’s been called, has folding wings so you can drive and park without damaging them, so it’s more of a plane you can drive than a car that flies.

Moller International’s M400 Skycar may be the thing, it’s not really a plane and it’s not really a car! It has vertical lift one set down and can comfortably cruise at 275 mph, looks sleek but more like a plane than a car.

However, Moller’s Nuera M200G could be ready this year (2010), it’s more of a hover because it flies three meters off the ground, so no pilot’s license is needed, multiple engines provide thrust and stability. Moller says they don’t see it as an urban vehicle but as a recreational vehicle that flies low over uninhabited terrain.

They believe it could be a good emergency vehicle for urban areas, especially where medical help is needed and traffic prevents help from arriving quickly.

So the question remains, would you rent a flying car if you could? I could try the Nuera M200G as I like to live in the country and going straight will be quicker than following the roads, but could I return my purchases?

So I guess having a flying car in the fleet of car rental companies is still some way off. Too bad I’d really like to see that!