Around the world in 80 days

Indigenous People’s Technology and Education Center (I-TEC)’s newest invention, the flying car named the Maverick Sport, will embark on its 80 days around the world on July 1.

The Maverick, fitting its name by being original and free-spirited, is one of the first cars that can fly with Federal Aviation Administration certification.

The whole car weighs a little over 1,000 pounds and can take off in less than 300 feet. The Maverick is a revamped “dune buggy” with a powered parachute that is controlled through the steering wheel.

“The Maverick is a multiplier,” nonprofit organization I-TEC’s founder Steve Saint said. “It can be used for transportation or as a survey vehicle to see what is going on from a high vantage point.”

Youth with a Mission (YWAM) is a global Christian volunteer organization and will be the drivers of the Maverick as they travel through the United States, Mexico, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Panama in 80 days. Grass Roots News will accompany the YWAM drivers at these various locations as they show the car in action and demonstrate the types of humanitarian needs it can provide.

“The Maverick is an amazing invention, which I hope will change the lives of many people living beyond roads,” Diane Becker, who is helping to film the event, said. “I hope that we will be able to demonstrate lots of uses for the Maverick during our trip through Central America, and that people will see the vast potential of the flying car.”

The Maverick is commercially available for a selling price of $80,000. I-TEC’s hope, according to Saint, is that the revenue from selling the car will lower the production costs so missionaries can use the car to reach indigenous people.

“I hope that the Maverick will both serve as a significant tool in the use of missions (and) humanitarian aviation,” Ray Siebring, who organized the 80-day event, said. “As well as be a source of income that helps continue development in other forms of mission innovation.”

A powered parachute, which is the predecessor to the Maverick, is already being used in areas such as the Congo. Glen Chapman has been a missionary along the Congo River for many years but has not been able to locate the nomadic tribes more inland due to the heavy forest. For the last few months, Chapman has used a similar prototype to the Maverick to locate those tribes through aerial view.

“The people see his flying car and come to him now,” Saint said. “The Maverick can be used in the same way.”

According to Saint, missions is like a relay race. Missionaries need to run the first lap then hand off the baton after teaching local indigenous believers how to run, so they can finish the race.

“The end goal is to place frontier believers in the driver seat without changing them to become like Americans,” Saint said. “We want to change the technology to fit them.”