Aviation View July 2023

9 AVIATION VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 3, ISSUE 2 FLYING CAR MANUFACTURER ASKA NABS FAA FLIGHT TEST SIGNOFF Though slow progress on advanced air mobility (AAM) rulemaking has so far kept electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft like air taxis grounded, the FAA is starting to turn its attention to an even more complex design: the flying car. Following Alef Aeronautics’ announcement that its eVTOL-car hybrid received an experimental special airworthiness certificate, another Jetsonian firm, Mountain View, California-based Aska, has obtained the same FAA approval. Now, Aska’s preproduction four-seater A5, first unveiled in January at CES 2023 in Las Vegas, has the green light for expanded flight testing. A special airworthiness certificate is a key step in any company’s quest to certificate an aircraft because it enables the validation of technology to progress. But so far, only a handful of companies billing themselves as flying car manufacturers (such as Alef, Terrafugia, and Samson Sky) have attained this stage. AN AMALGAMATION Aska’s A5 is unique compared to the aforementioned companies’ offerings. As currently designed, Samson Sky’s Switchblade and Terrafugia’s Transition leverage fixed wings for runway takeoff, while Alef’s Model A uses propellers for VTOL. The A5, though, combines those configurations and takeoff methods. Billed as a “street legal eVTOL,” the A5 is an amalgamation. On the road, its rounded cabin sits on four wheels, with a collection of wings and rotors folded on top. Roughly the size of an SUV, it’s compact enough to fit in a garage or a parking spot. Early models will be limited to local roads and are best-suited for the “last mile” of transportation. Before takeoff, the A5’s wings—with rotors in the middle and on either end—unfold, transforming the vehicle into a small fixed-wing airplane. That enables some pretty unique capabilities. Like the Switchblade or the Transition, the A5 is built for OPENING L INES