Baykar Technologies said it will start work on larger and more advanced prototypes of its Cezeri flying car following the recent first flight of a sub-scale model. However, the Turkish group’s chief technology officer, Selcuk Bayraktar, has indicated that it may be another 10 to 15 years before Baykar has a flying car available for use in urban and suburban areas and that this may take the form of a larger model that he referred to as Alici.
The single-seat Cezeri made a first tethered flight on September 11 at the Baykar research and development center in Istanbul and made further untethered flights on September 15. The vehicle, which weighs just over 500 pounds, reached an altitude of 33 feet, which is far lower than the projected maximum operating altitude of just over 6,500 feet.
The planned all-electric, single-seat model was unveiled in September 2019 at the Teknofest Aviation, Space, and Technology event at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport. This early-technology demonstrator was remotely controlled from the ground, but Bayraktar indicated that subsequent flight testing of a larger prototype will be conducted with a pilot.
The design is named after the 12th-century scientist Ismail al-Jazari (also known as Al Cezeri in Turkish). It is expected to operate at a cruise speed of around 60 mph and with a range of up to around 50 miles.
Baykar is active in the defense sector and has experience in developing military drones, including the TB2 UAV, which has logged more than 150,000 flight hours. The company claims to hold patterns for autonomous flight controls and sensors. It is developing the flying car through a subsidiary called Cezeri Artificial Intelligence and Robotic Technologies.
Bayraktar indicated that early models of its family of flying cars may be able to operate in rural areas in less than 10 to 15 years. He believes that the initial single-seat Cezeri might be available for use as an off-road vehicle in around 3 to 4 years.
