Follow-up report:

PAL-V as a guest at the Drivers Club Munich

Some evenings feel like a glimpse into the future - except that they don't sound like science fiction, but like entrepreneurial spirit. The 10th February at the Drivers Club in Motorworld Munich was just such an evening. Chrome, leather, the smell of petrol - and in the middle of it all, an idea that has been on people's minds for a hundred years: the flying car.

I admit, for me it really was love at first sight. Not that „oh, that's exciting“ feeling, but that inner grin when you realise: this is serious.

Our guest was Robert Dingemanse, founder and CEO of PAL-V. Not a showman with PowerPoint fireworks, but an entrepreneur who knows what he is doing. Someone who doesn't talk about visions, but about certifications, runway lengths and rotor physics.

FlyDrive - or: Why this is not an air taxi

What I particularly liked: Robert dispelled a myth right at the beginning. PAL-V is not an air taxi. It's not an eVTOL that takes you from Vertiport A to Vertiport B like a flying bus.

The concept is called „FlyDrive“.

You get in the car at home. You drive off as normal. You taxi to a small airfield - there are thousands of them around the world. You take off, fly over traffic jams, mountains or water. And when you arrive at your destination, you simply drive on.

Door to door. Without changing trains. Without new infrastructure. Without science fiction airports.

And that's where you realise: Here, someone has not only thought about technology, but about everyday life.

Safety that is not based on courage, but on physics

The PAL-V Liberty is not a helicopter, but a gyrocopter. A gyrocopter. That sounds like a flying school at first, but is actually a pretty elegant solution.

The rotor is not driven by the motor. It turns due to the airstream - autorotation. Even if both engines fail, the vehicle glides to the ground in a controlled manner. No free fall. No Hollywood moment.

The thing has been street legal since 2020. Street legal. And in the final phase of aviation certification. Compliance demonstration. Sounds dry - but it's the moment when vision becomes regulation.

150 metres of runway is enough. No new infrastructure costing billions. No futuristic concrete jungles. It works with what is there.

This is SME thinking in its purest form: utilise what exists. Do what makes sense.

The world has been watching for a long time

What many underestimate: The „low altitude economy“ is not a European mind game.

A huge cluster for advanced air mobility is being established in Abu Dhabi. In China, the aim is to control 30 to 40 per cent of this new market. In India, talks are already underway at government level.

And then you sit in the Drivers Club in Munich and realise: we're in the middle of this game.

Over 50 per cent of reservations are not made by private individuals who want to fly over the foothills of the Alps at the weekend, but by professionals. Police. Border guards. Medical first responders.

A doctor in a rural region extends his radius of action from 50 to 250 kilometres. This is not a gimmick. This is the reality of care.

Suddenly, „Wow, cool gadget“ becomes infrastructure.

Entrepreneurship means believing earlier than others

The company is currently valued at around 1.2 billion euros. Before final certification. Convertible bonds are offered. Classic pre-upside window.

But to be honest, the evening wasn't just about investment. It was about attitude.

You sit there, look at this vehicle - half car, half aeroplane - and ask yourself the question:

Who builds something like this? Who keeps it up? Who goes through the years of development, regulation and scepticism?

Entrepreneurship means exactly that. Not waiting until everyone is clapping. Instead, start when many are still frowning.

What this evening really showed

In the SME sector, we often talk about digitalisation, AI, sovereignty and markets. It's all important. But in the end, every future starts with people who are prepared to take a risk.

The Drivers Club was not an event space that evening. It was a thinking space.

Between bonnets and conversations, it became clear: the flying car is no longer a question of „if“, but „when“ - and above all „who“.

Who is shaping this market?
Who is just a spectator?
Who sits at the table when new industries are created?

That's exactly why we create evenings like this. Not for applause. Not for show. But for conversations that in a few years' time may be seen as the start of a new industry.

I like these moments. When the future doesn't come across loudly, but is explained objectively. When technology is not sold as hype, but as a solution. And when you can feel that someone is passionate about their idea.

At the end, I looked round and said: "It's about entrepreneurship, courage and passion.

And to be honest - when the traffic jam eventually lies beneath us, we will know that we were there when a vision became a market.