Australian Flying Police Cars Set to Patrol in Dubai - Still Not the Flying Cars We Were Promised in the Movies

Pegasus E Police Flying Car.

When I see a headline like ‘Not if, but when’: Australian flying car start-up sets sights on Dubai, readers of my blog will know I'm immediately interested. Not just because it's a story about flying cars but also it's about Australian flying cars (you knew I'm an Aussie, right?).

Pegasus is an Australian flying car company making, what I would call, 'roadworthy' helicopters. At first glance their Pegasus E flying car looks like a mini, high performance helicopter with the chassis of a small formula one race car strapped to the bottom.

Which makes sense since they're setting their sights on selling a version of the craft as a single seater flying police car in Dubai, a city that is really paving the way for flying car infrastructure. Many of which are basically helicopter style drones, with  no capacity to drive, or follow an actual road at street level at all.

Again, at first glance, I would almost dismiss the Pegasus E as not being an actual flying car. It's clearly a mini helicopter, except you can actually drive it on the road at speed (top speed 160kph) without all the 'flying bits' making unscheduled flights of their own as the g-forces shake them loose. That's not common for helicopter/aeroplane/car hybrids. Watch the video below.

That main helicopter blade is just the right
height to blend pedestrians!

That said, the height of the main helicopter blade is concerning. You're not going to be landing one of these things in a crowded street without blending a few pedestrians (or the pilot if they exit the craft before the main blades stop spinning).

Pegasus have a four seater taxi version of their car, set to be revealed toward the end of 2023 which, for me, was slightly more exciting (until I saw a concept image in their video below). So many of these flying cars are one or, occasionally two seaters. A real flying car (like we were promised in the movies) should at least seat a family of four (maybe even five if you put a bench seat in the back).

Concept Image of the Pegasus flying taxi. Dude... that's a helicopter not a car in any way
shape or form. You're not doing the grocery run with monster blades like that!

Kudos to Pegasus for making a drivable flying car that fits in your garage and can fly at the press of a button but I still feel that main rotor is going to be an issue at ground level. I'm pretty sure, in Australia at least, you'd be required to hang a red safety flag of some sort from it since it extends past the length of the vehicle. Plus it's a one seater, making it more of a recreational vehicle than a practical one. Though I suppose it could be your daily commute to the office if you hate car pooling.

Honestly though. It's still not even close to the flying cars of the movies. No one, other than rich millionaires who also fly their own planes will be looking to buy a Pegasus E. It's a vehicle that may be ideal for very specific purposes but it's definitely not a great all round vehicle for your family.