Filipino Amateur Engineer Builds ‘Flying Car’ in His Backyard

September 5, 2018

After having had enough of the traffic jams in the Philippines, an amateur engineer decided to design and build his own flying car.

Kyxz Mendiola, a founding member of international dance group Philippine AllStars, transitioned from being a performer to an inventor when he began working on a prototype of his ambitious vehicle six years ago.

Mendiola recently completed the first successful test flight of his ultralight aircraft called “Koncepto Millenya” which was flown about 25 feet above the ground.

“’We’ve been having bad weather so it took as a while after our deadline before we can finally show it to our followers. But after two months of tuning, here it is. I hope everyone will give this vehicle a positive reaction. This was only a dream for us five years ago,” Mendiola shared during his videotaped demonstration.

Koncepto Millenya can carry one person and has a similar design to a drone, just significantly bigger. It also uses a metal frame with a carbon fiber shell commonly used in aircraft engineering.

The current build is powered by batteries which allow it to fly for 12 to 15 minutes from two-and-a-half hours of charging time.

According to Mendiola, his first designs looked more like a hoverboard that he would stand on and steer using a remote control.

In developing his flying car, he had the backing of a group of enthusiasts and entrepreneurs. During the six-year development, the design evolved into a more drone-like vehicle that can actually fly.

Mendiola described Koncepto Millenya as a “flying car type of vehicle that uses drone technology or multi-copter technology to fly. It’s like a drone car.”

“I wanted it to be a sports car, a flying Lamborghini, maybe. The design was a trial and error process. Some materials burned up on use. Other materials didn’t quite work.” We had to get custom materials made at a Foundry and Machine Shop.

“One of the main features is the battery redundancy system so even if one battery runs out, the aircraft can still maintain its flight.”

Following the successful tests, Mendiola revealed his plans to mass produce Koncepto Millenya, including a two-seater version. He added that his team is currently looking for buyers and investors to enable them to distribute his flying car commercially.

Featured image via Facebook/Koncepto Millenya

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