Outback town to become home of the flying car

A small town in rural NSW is set to become the birthplace of the flying car in Australia, with testing to begin just months from now.

A small town 40km west of Dubbo, in NSW, will serve as the birthplace of the flying car in Australia.

AMSL Aero, which is currently designing a driverless flying car that can travel at speeds of up to 300km/h, will be the first operation moving into the new Narromine Aerodrome precinct, which is due to be completed by the end of July.

The car, named Vertiia, is the brainchild of Andrew Moore, a former Navy engineer, and Siobhan Lyndon, who previously worked at Google.

Vertiia is intended to “ease the burden of traffic congestion on people’s lives, and provide greater choice over where people can live and visit,” according to a statement on AMSL’s website.

Narromine will become the home of a state-of-the-art testing facility for an electric flying car (model pictured). Picture: NCA NewsWire / Supplied

The driverless vehicle can hold up to six passengers and will be fully electric, with zero carbon emissions and low noise levels.

If it works, it could provide an all-electric way for people to travel between Australia’s widespread regional communities.

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AMSL Aero has landed a $950,000 support grant from the NSW Government’s Regional Investment Attraction Fund, which Mr Moore said would help pay for their upcoming launch and the construction of “essential testing facilities”.

Deputy NSW Premier John Barilaro said the project would help residents in regional NSW overcome “the tyranny of distance”, helping residents visit friends and family, work further from home, and help deliver tourists to outback areas.

“Imagine the convenience of having a flying car land in your suburb when you need to travel to a regional destination that is not serviced by an airport,” Mr Barilaro said.

“It sounds like science fiction but the reality is a future where this is possible, practical and affordable is not that far away and I am proud that our investment attraction grant will help the development of this new technology and support jobs in regional NSW.”

Testing on the car will begin in 2021.

The car, named Vertiia, is the brainchild of Andrew Moore, a former Navy engineer (right), and Siobhan Lyndon (centre), who previously worked at Google. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Supplied