Flying car at Aero India

As incredible at it sounds, Aero India 2011, beginning in Bangalore next Wednesday, will feature a flying car as one of the exhibits at the show. The car, a Maruti 800 hatchback, has been converted into a flying machine by a company known as Bangalorean.

This was disclosed at the press briefing held by Secretary for Defense Production, Raj Kumar Singh on the air show. It was also clarified that since the flying car did not, yet, have certification from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), it would be on static display only, and would not give a flight demonstration.

“This flying car is a product from a Bangalore-based innovator. He says he has the technology with which he can use a Maruti 800 car as an aircraft. To encourage him, we have provided him space at the static exhibition for aerospace products,” Singh said. Singh and his officials also clarified that this exhibit had nothing to do with the Indian automobile manufacturer Maruti Suzuki, which is majority-owned by Suzuki.

Bangalorean would have been charged over USD 250 per square meter for exhibition space.

Last year, a US concept flying car called the Transition, built by a company called Terrafugia, received certification from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).