We have earlier seen the $10,000 VertiPod, the one-passenger helicopter turned upside-down, which is apt enough to steer you at 40 miles per hour in thick air. Now, the Performance Aviation Manufacturing Group (PAM) has developed an Individual Lifting Vehicle (ILV) concept that is being developed as a kit in the United States. The PAM 100B has already achieved a maximum height of 20 feet and a maximum airspeed of 25mph in the trials. The lifting vehicle will be available as Do-It-Yourself kit for a whopping US $50,000. The ILV uses a counter-rotating rotor lifting system and gets its power from two 105 horsepower, Hirth F-30, 2 cycle, 4 cylinder engines with dual ignition and forced air cooling. Engine power comes through two 2.64:1 engine gearboxes. The best part is that if one of the engines fails, the other one can still sustain the flight. The ILV can soar over trees and houses requiring pilot skills equal only to riding a motor bike. Control of the ILV is obtained by simply shifting your body weight. The kit currently under development in the United States is dubbed PAM 200. On the other hand, flying cars don’t seem to be far way. Many flying cars have already gone into production, including the PAL-V flying car, Terrafugia Transition , Moller M200G Volantor, and the Urban Aeronautics’ X-Hawk.

via TFOT