Russians Join Quest for Flying Cars

Two Russia-based aircraft companies, Ilyushin and Sukhoi, are taking part in a state-run project called AeroNet to launch an air taxi by 2025.

Scientists in Novosibirsk, Siberia’s largest city, are also actively engaged in the development of flying cars, according to the Russian Foundation for Advanced Research Projects.

A laboratory dedicated to the project has been established at the Siberian Aeronautical Research Institute (SibNIA) to create a “full-scale demonstration model of an ultra-short takeoff and landing transport drone with hybrid propulsion (a flying car).”

Scientists in Novosibirsk expect to develop a flying car within the next four years. Their model will be tested in the air and in wind tunnels with expectations that the vehicle can fly at more than 300 kph (about 185 mph) while traveling at distances more than 1,000 km (about 600 miles).

The vehicle will require a 50-meter (about 150 feet) landing pad to operate.

While the Novosibirsk project expects to be operational by 2023.