Airborne Vehicle
Airborne vehicles (AVs) are small vehicles that incorporate VTOL flight systems, usually via compact jets, ducted fans, ion thrusters, or antigrav generators. While British Aerospace officially developed the first AVs, in the 2050s that the technology became available to the general population after regulation permitting their use became more widespread and more affordable flight technology was released to market. AVs are more complex, more expensive, and much more energy consuming than ground-based vehicles; multimodal AVs, which are capable of both ground and air propulsion, are also available, with the advantage of much greater efficiency when operating on the ground. The current largest manufacturers of AVs include British Aerospace, Arcanos, Parametrik, and CORE Automotive.
The use of AVs requires a pilot's license, though in most countries an accelerated route for AV pilot licensing is available which features lighter educational requirements. Drivers of multimodal AVs also additionally require a drivers' license. All air traffic restrictions also apply to AVs; they usually operate at a lower level than commercial airliners and must obey no-fly zones. Unlike airliners, most AVs are incapable of travelling large distances (such as between countries) due to the limitations of their energy sources. Some very high-end AVs (such as those used by corporate executives) use nuclear energy systems that allow them to circumvent this limitation.
History
The first airborne vehicles were developed in the mid-2020s by British Aerospace, intended to be used by intelligence agents as a multimodal covert transportation method. These early flying cars appeared identical to regular vehicles, with their flight capabilities disguised, and relied on the FL-86 Levitation Engine. Activation of their flight engines ("FL MODE") was locked behind safety systems which required a code to be entered into the flight control computer hidden in the central console.