Have you ever dreamed of flying in your car?

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-43329676

As Dutch company Pal-V unveils its latest flying car gyrocopter at the Geneva motor show, we ask if the dream of flying cars for all could ever become a reality.

"007 was here" says the graffiti emblazoned on the wall of Pal-V's stand at the Geneva motor show. Beneath it sits a creation James Bond would certainly be proud of.

The Dutch company has just launched its first flying car on to the market.

It's a compact three-wheeler, which it says can offer sporty performance on the road then take to the air using a set of extendable rotors.

So is this a sign that air travel is about to get a whole lot more accessible, or will devices like this never be more than playthings for the rich?

The car is called the Liberty. In flying terms, it is what's known as an auto-gyro, or gyrocopter.

In other words, it has helicopter-like blades that rotate freely in order to generate lift, while power is provided by two 100 horsepower engines, via a separate propeller at the back.

James Bond, aka 007, flew something similar in the film You Only Live Twice - a nippy runaround called Little Nellie - and the company is clearly quite happy with the comparison.

But the Liberty is bigger, more luxurious, and it can also be used on the road, which means it is no ordinary autogyro.

It can use one of its two engines to drive at up to 99mph (160km/h) on the ground, enabling the pilot to drive straight from the runway to his or her destination.

The secret to doing this effectively, the company says, is technology that allows the car to tilt into corners and remain stable, despite its three-wheel design.

It is this practicality that Pal-V thinks will be Liberty's main selling point.

"It's the frustration of general aviation," says chief executive Robert Dingemanse

"With a small plane or a helicopter you take off from a place you don't want to leave from, and end up in a place you don't really want to be.

"But if you drive, you can start at your garage door, then go straight to the place you want to be - and that's what we offer - 3D mobility."

But a gyrocopter design has its drawbacks, argues Prof Harry Hoster, head of Lancaster University's Energy Research Centre.

"Gyrocopters can land in a very small area, unlike normal helicopters," he says, "but they still need a bit of forward momentum before they can take off, so they wouldn't be able to use helicopter pads on the top of buildings, for example.

"And you would have issues in densely populated areas," he adds, "because the rotors would need a large radius of free space."

Noise would also be an issue in urban areas, Prof Hoster believes.