The Ultimate Fly Drive Package: SkyCruiser Merges An Aeroplane, Quadcopter And A Car

• Can take off and land from anywhere like a helicopter thanks to four rotor blades Can switch to a plane to reach high speeds once in the air 
• Can reach 75mph on the road 

While flying cars that double as a plane are yet to become a reality, they already have some competition - from a flying car that can also work like a quadcopter.

Arizona-based start-up Krossblade says its SkyCruiser concept gets over the biggest problem of the flying car - needing a runway to land and take off from. 

Instead, it has four rotors that allow it to take to the air - and then switch to fly like a normal plane. 

'SkyCruiser is a concept 5-seat hybrid VTOL transformer airplane with road-drive ability,' the firm developing the concecpt says.

'It enables a traveler to travel directly from point A to point B, instead of going from point A to an airport in a car say, then fly from the airport to another airport, and then drive with a car from the other airport to point B.' 

It hopes to attract wealthy private jet users who value their time. 

'Rather than spending 3 to 4 hours going from LA to San Francisco, for example, SkyCruiser takes you directly to your destination, point to point, in just a little over 1 hour. 

In normal flight, the SkyCruiser uses two 150 bhp electric motors in the tail, but when switching from horizontal to vertical flight, a set of four 'switchblade' rotor arms fold out from the fuselage to take the load.

There are four 80 bhp electric motors running the four main rotors, plus another four 10 bhp rotors to providing stability in crosswinds. 

According to Krossblade, the smaller rotors can accelerate faster than the larger ones, so they can respond faster to sudden gusts.

On the ground, the 9.5 m (31 ft) wing span can be stowed away, and electric motors mounted in the wheels drive the craft along at 75 mph (112 kph) - although be warned, it is 8.4 m (27.5 ft) long. 

The switchblade rotor arrangement is designed to provide the Vertical TakeOff and Landing (VTOL) SkyCruiser with the ability to hover and land in small areas while maintaining the aerodynamics of a conventional airplane, The firm is also working on smaller drone version of the, although no price or delivery date for either variant has been announced.