It's no DeLorean, but sure looks nice:

this car/plane has been flight tested at my local airport

http://nhpr.org/post/flying-car-will-be-tested-pease

Beyond the typical reasons for why the "flying car" is impractical, they need a remote for wing extension.

The pilot does the pre-flight when arriving to the airport to ensure everything is free of debris and there is nothing to interfere with wing extension. Then he climbs in and extends the wings. Then he gets back out to continue the pre-flight. And then, once again, climbs inside the aircraft.

I'm normally enthusiastic about stuff, trying to point out the good of an idea, but not so much on the "flying car" which in reality is a "roadable aircraft."

I'm in the shallow waters of aviation and sigh at the four dollar aviation bolt that has a grade 8 cousin that costs ten cents. To replace a tire on this aircraft requires an A&P at an airport maintenance shop.

One question never answered is what happens when one has a wreck in one in "car mode." It's still an aircraft on a very long taxi run, so does the NTSB have to investigate? If it's the "flying car" driver's fault, does it come off his driver's license or his pilot's license? Who insures it? What if a non-pilot drives it in "car" mode and wrecks it - it's still an airplane according to the FAA no matter what mode it's in, so are they operating an airplane without the appropriate certificates and ratings?

All the legal headaches that Dart points out.

Plus the mechanical nonsense. Short of the buzz it generates because it is an age-old vision, what exactly is this thing good at?

E-ZPass® is gonna have to scramble to collect their tolls on this thing.

a nice toy to have if you have the financial means to purchase and maintain it and a small runway behind your estate would make it more practicle

The only way I could ever see a (nearly) mainstream flying car is if it was more of a hovercraft/aircraft. Low flying, say, 25' or so, crossing a variety of terrain, such as waterways instead of going around on land. A personal ferry for narrow lakes and bays, for instance. Flies just high enough for "3 dimensional highways", like 2 lanes of them stacked as well as a few lanes wide, and can survive, reliably, a powered off crash from that limited height. It should require a specific license and inspections, but far from that of an aircraft.
Just something to help free up the land based traffic, set off to the side of it. The hard part is putting them where they can't fall on land based cars and killing someone in them.
Free flight wouldn't really be part of the picture.

Some type of VTOL version would make more sense.
There is a prototype design.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewstibbe/2011/09/19/vtol-car/

We'll have flying cars when the legality of drones is worked out. Because most people can't fly, not when they can barely drive. So the solution is computer controlled flight, with or without a person aiding you I don't know.

You drive to the airport and get into the line for the runway. At the threshold you give up control to the AI or ATC or some remote pilot you pay for service and they taxi you out, take you off, and fly you to the other end. After landing, they taxi you off and then control is given back to you to drive off the ramp and out.

Some people say "I don't want a computer flying me", but would you rather some 90 yr old who can't see over their steering wheel be flying? Or a teenager too busy talking/texting/daydreaming?


The Jedi Master

more of a roadable airplane then a flying car..

and as dart has said: too many practical problems. Flying is never gona be as driving a car for weather reasons and other things.. but the overall fyling car thing is going on for about a century now.

here is my playlist to that on yt:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL471idyHCCK8jFvs910Y6OegyuIt-OD3q


my favorite is still the PAL-V though.

I see a much higher chance with the advent of electrical multicopters, because they can really reduce moving parts and complexity once energy storage density gets solved.. all current storage forms are simply not really working well enough to be competative.

Pity the guy that takes his Hovercar to work in the morning under clear skies and finds thunderstorms have rolled in during the course of the day.

LOL, plus the PITA of doing a weight and balance for the groceries one picks up on the way home!