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Flying car cleared for takeoff

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I want this in Nepal.......want to ride and fly.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

No reason to get your panties in a twist, folks... this business will fail, just like every "flying car" business before it. Someone will buy the prototypes and cart them around to airshows. If they get lucky, they'll get them in an article in Smithsonian Air & Space, in the "Flights of Fancy" department.

The "flying car" is an engineering abomination that succeeds only in being both a lousy car and a lousy airplane.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

It's good they have this instead of an electric car with a 250 mile range between charges, that has automatic braking and carries four adults.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Good luck getting cheap insurance.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

George Jetson was the Bart Simpson of the future. Hopelessly inept but gainfully employed and making enough to live in style.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Not my view, was just highlighting what the manufacturer was saying. I think VTOL would be fantastic, but so much energy is burned getting the vehicle off the ground in this manner compared to conventional take off that it might be impractical (when as you say, it should be the raison d'etre).

Honestly speaking, the flying car is (IMHO) going to be a very long way off IF you want a car that can fly as a plane. I doubt very much if the buyers of these cars are ever going to use them on the school run or to buy groceries. They'll only be used for flying. The niche these cars fill is to give people a (relatively) cheap mode of flying, fun/leisure. It is exploiting a law in US regulations that allow LSA's (light sport aircraft) but I suspect (and it is just a guess) that if this segment gets overpopulated, it would lead to a significant rise in crashes due to inexperienced people flying, and teh result would be to close the loophole, and reclassify as something other than LSA. I wouldn't want these (any variety) buzzing around Tokyo tbh!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Carbon fiber? Safety devices? I'll just bet they wouldn't fair well or handle like a Cooper S ! When and if the sky is full of flying cars, they can be scraped off the pavement just like any other crash! Might be more difficult getting it off the roof of your home! Junk! Why can't these thinkers work on more ways to solve problems instead of dreaming of useless toys that most likely will not see mass production anyway! Now, if they can also create one that can be used as a pleasure boat? Pontoons might also make a nice addition for taking off from the lake! Junk!

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

lol i wonder what kind of gass that thing takes, i certianly dont think regular unleaded is gonna work to well :)

Actually, according to their commercial on Youtube, it takes regular unleaded gasoline.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

As an air traffic controller this thing gives me nightmares!

2 ( +2 / -0 )

I suppose it could go well in a 007 or Batman sequel.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

lol i wonder what kind of gass that thing takes, i certianly dont think regular unleaded is gonna work to well :)

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Cool but well, not really what science fiction promised us. Somehow reminds me the Acrostar in James Bond's Octopussy.

The only problems is that I don't want all idiots already on the roads, flying (I might be someone else's idiot by the way). I hope the required flying license will filter them. Still, I believe it will probably ends as the Aerocar.

At least the research might be useful for something else.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Thank you USNinJapan2. But I found out an interesting thing. The term "flying car" means different things to different people. There is no fixed meaning. What we are thinking of is looked upon as the science fiction view. That is not to say it won't be a reality one day, but automated flying craft for everyman is a long way away. Another thing is that that view tends to have a lot more flying than running on the ground. Flying is the very point. And all that makes VTOL practically a requirement. The "car" part for us is mostly there to indicate how common it is and that it will be used for work commutes, etc.

Gyouza's view is maybe more of a vehicle that can do both run on the ground and fly about equal. That can be done fairly practically today, but requires wings and a runway, and the only runway legally available is the airport. For him the term "car" really means a car.

When I think of flying car, I think more of Moeller's models. http://www.newlaunches.com/2008/11/24/Flying%20Car.JPG

Perhaps when gyoza thinks of flying car, he thinks more of this vehicle or the Maverick.

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/06/30/maverick-flying-car-can-actually-fly-and-youll-never-be-withou/

Another interesting find is the motorcycle pod. Its made for pilots who want a way to get to and from the airports they go to. It covers a lot of the same concerns that make people want a flying car of either type.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I'm completely with MustardKing on this one. Flying cars won't be a reality for 'everyday drivers' until the entire flight part of the journey is automated. A license to fly isn't as easy to obtain as a driver's license nor should it ever be.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Another toy for the one percent. Last I checked, the average commuter doesn't drop 300k on transport. Not now or in another decade. Nice article in the Comic Section type. Average commuter. I laugh!

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

@mustardking

Whose goal?

The manufacturers. Their goal was to develop something cheap to reduce the cost of flying, no need for hangarage, etc.

Not having a panel van chassis and weight, why yes, it would be different

It is about a third of the weight of a panel van, and the side area of wings folded are about a third of the size. Should be OK. If it gets blown away by the wind, I wonder if it could convert quick enough to fly?? ;) Panel van certainly couldn't!

And you will notice that many if not most flying car plans and prototypes are VTOL.

Ooops, I didn't notice. Any links you can share?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The comments are funny.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

The goal was never to take off from streets,

Whose goal? The goal of flying car enthusiasts is to be able to get from A to B in the same way you now do in your car, except by flying for all or part of the journey, while not increasing your commute time by going out of your way for an airstrip. That goals does necessarily include or exclude taking off from streets. I merely point out that in this particular flying car, you cannot do it. If it were VTOL capable though, you could. And you will notice that many if not most flying car plans and prototypes are VTOL.

As for being hit by crosswinds with wings folded back, would it be any different for a panel van?

Not having a panel van chassis and weight, why yes, it would be different. In your own words, it looks like a bit of a toy.

-13 ( +1 / -14 )

@badge213 I think the goal is to open up ownership to ordinary people, not allow anyone to fly. Apart from the expense of buying a small lpane, you then have to hangar it, etc. However, I think that allowing someone with just 20hrs to own and operate one of these might not be in the best interests of the broader public, as it seems more difficult to fly than an ordinary plane. Watching the test flights landing, it looked fairly delicate. A beginners hard landing might chop off the tail end!

@mustardking The goal was never to take off from streets, just have the ability to drive to an airstrip and take off. Landing in between street lamps might be tricky. As for being hit by crosswinds with wings folded back, would it be any different for a panel van?

Honestly speaking, it looks like a bit of a toy (2 seater, room for golf clubs) but it might advance the technology in the right direction so, good luck!!

0 ( +1 / -1 )

“But we are getting to the point where 10, maybe 15 years from now that the people owning and operating (them) will >be everyday people.”

As someone who's actually flown an airplane, this is an unrealistic pipe dream. One would have to change hundreds of federal laws in regards to aircraft operating licensing/certification.

Flying an airplane is completely different from driving a car, "everyday people" will need to spend hours with flight instructors, learn patterns, air traffic control rules etc etc. These "cars" or rather airplanes that act as cars being driving by "everyday people" is still decades away from reality.

3 ( +4 / -0 )

With those wings folded up at the side, imagine getting hit by a crosswind while driving!

I am surprised they did not go for wings that fold backward. I would have put them on the roof.

-15 ( +0 / -15 )

if i had the money I would buy one... But i doubt anyone sharing the road with me would appreciate me taking off next to them haha.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

I really hate these articles that do their utmost to appeal to emotionalism and never ending attempts at wit, but don't bother much with pertitent facts.

It calls the flying car "street legal", but does that mean you will be allowed to take-off and land on the street or highway, or your own typical driveway? I don't think so. And guess what? That is core to the flying car dream. No. If you want to fly, you have to take it to an airport.

Plus it makes it look like this flying car has really accomplished something new. It hasn't! There is nothing super special about this one compared to others, it just seems like it might actually get massed produced. The question is if they will sell enough to stay in business, and that is key reason why there are so few in the world, because nobody had confidence they would sell.

Anway, this article is pretty much like every other article on a flying car in that it touts the new one like the one that is going to realize the dream and that style has been flogged to death with none realizing the dream. The writers seem to think most of us are too stupid to notice. They are probably right.

-15 ( +2 / -17 )

It's not a car that can fly. It's a plane that can drive

7 ( +6 / -1 )

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