A French pilot crossed the English Channel on Wednesday in a flying car that looks part dune buggy, part paraglider.Named “Pegasus” — a winged horse in Greek mythology – the flying car is the brainchild of Jerome Dauffy, an entrepreneur inspired by early aviators such as Brazilian Alberto Santos-Dumont and Frenchman Louis Bleriot who made the first flight across the Channel in 1909.

“The automotive and aeronautic industries were born around a century ago and it’s only now that we are managing to combine the two modes,” Dauffy said.” Vezzoli landed safely 59 km away, near the English port town of Dover. His first ambition had been to build a flying machine that could travel round the world in 80 days.

“Usually you land on the ground, but in this case we would have to do a sea-landing.Under a clear blue sky, Bruno Vezzoli launched his flying machine down an abandoned wartime runway near Calais, lurching from side to side as he slowly gained Custom Blade Signs altitude suspended beneath a giant canopy.“I would say that the biggest risk, just like with any engine-powered machine, would be a breakdown,” Vezzoli told Reuters TV as he made his pre take-off checks