Steve Saint, son of martyred missionary Nate Saint, and the organization he founded called i-Tec (The Indigenous People’s Technology and Education Ministry Center) have created a flying car inspired by humanitarian and missionary needs:

Saint, the founder of Dunnellon-based i-Tec…said the idea for a short takeoff and landing all-terrain car, plane and airboat grew out of his family’s missionary work in remote areas of Ecuador.

Saint’s Maverick is a dune-buggy type car that can be mounted on pontoons or underneath a wing parachute, after which it is propelled by a six foot propeller at the rear of the vehicle.

The Maverick Sport flies at a fixed 40 mph using a 36-foot-wide ram wing, or wing-shaped parachute, deployed on a 27-foot mast and stored on top of the car during road use.

The Maverick was at the experimental aircraft fly-in at OshKosh this past week (the Experimental Aircraft Association’s 2010 AirVenture), though it couldn’t fly in due to paperwork issues with the FAA.  They documented their drive from Florida to Wisconsin.  More information is available at their Maverick LSA website.