Flying model steals the show at LIMA’19

The model of a flying car, known as Vector, has intrigued many visitors at LIMA’19.

LANGKAWI: If you are eager to see how the “air mobility system” looks like, the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace 2019 (LIMA’19) exhibition here, is indeed a great place for you to do so.

Although it is just a model, the public can have a clearer idea of the physical look of the vehicle that could be flown someday.

Known as Vector, the vehicle’s debut at the Mahsuri International Exhibition Centre (MIEC) has been stealing the limelight of this year’s edition as many patrons are intrigued by it.

Most of them initially thought Vector was the much-talked about flying car, but it is nowhere near that.

In fact, Aerodyne Group business development and consulting senior director, Imtyaz Mohd Azzat, refuted the idea that the company was developing a flying car. He said Vector was designed to be a point-to-point air transportation system.

Imtyaz explained that Vector was a drone-concept vehicle that was designed for carrying passengers, cargo delivery and surveillance purpose.

“Vector is powered by four motors and a lithium-ion battery that enables the vehicle to fly.

“This vehicle can also carry a load of approximately 150-200kg and fly about 50m above ground level at 60km/h speed and 30 up to 90 minutes of flying time,” he told Bernama on the sidelines of LIMA’19 here, today.

Asked when the vehicle was expected to cruise over the sky, Imtyaz said the Vector prototype was slated to be ready to fly as early as June this year.

He also said the four-year-old company, with experience in drone technology, had yet to decide on the price of Vector should the vehicle be ready to enter the market.

On government support, Imtyaz said he was grateful that the ministry of entrepreneur development had been supportive and very open by helping the company to develop the ecosystem that made this idea work.

“Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad was also pleased with this idea when he visited the booth,” he said.

The 15th edition of LIMA sees the participation of 406 defence-related companies, 200 of which are international corporations, from 32 countries.

It is co-organised by EN Projects (M) Sdn Bhd, the defence ministry and the transportation ministry with the theme ‘Defence and Commercial Connecting Intelligence’. -FMT