Is it a bird? A plane? It’s AeroTrain!

Maglev without the magnets? The Aero-Train (which almost shares a name with another futuristic train) keeps the levitation but, according to Fast Company, the prototype from Japan would use the principles of “wing-in-ground effect” to eliminate drag by flying very close to the ground. So is it transit? Fast Company says yes: “Take one of these planes and attach some passenger cars to it — voila! — you have yourself a very efficient flying train that doesn’t require that much energy to move.” The concept was presented in a paper given at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation. Link to full story in Fast Company.

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