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I think that autonomous vehicles make flying cars possible. On one hand, learning to fly is difficult (the problem has a dimension more than driving on the surf
by yk 10y ago
I think that autonomous vehicles make flying cars possible. On one hand, learning to fly is difficult (the problem has a dimension more than driving on the surface) and people really do not like wreckage falling from the sky. So one needs a highly trained expert to pilot any flying vehicle, or a fully autonomous autopilot.
The second thing is energy, a plane needs to handle a lot more energy than a car, simply because it flies, so it is more expensive. If someone own a flying car, then they are investing a lot into a capability they use very rarely. With a Uber like model of shared transportation one orders a car only when one needs it. And it makes sense to have a flying car in the pool, even at a hundred times the cost of a regular vehicle. So each individual customer will use that flying car almost never, but there are many, and the ones who pay a $100 to shave five minutes of their time are probably in that moment very happy, that they have that option.
- Retric 10y agoFlight takes less energy than you might think. The real issue is landing in city's. You need virticle takeoff and landing which creates a lot of issues.
- rjsw 10y agoPeople are working on planes that can land vertically under computer control. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martin_F-35_Lightning_II https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martin_F-35_Lightning...
- rando444 10y agoYou might be interested in this http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/06/08/481286099/drone-taxis-nevada-to-allow-testing-of-passenger-drone http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/06/08/481286099/...
- mc32 10y agoSo, I think there is a difference between a plane which can also function as a car on streets and cars which can take flight but mostly stay on the ground. The former can be lighter the latter would be heavier, using current materials. Primarily planes vs primarily cars.
- flavor8 10y ago> The second thing is energy, a plane needs to handle a lot more energy than a car, simply because it flies A cessna gets between 15mpg and 22mpg. http://www.cessna150152.com/faqs/performance.htm http://www.cessna150152.com/faqs/performance.htm
- yk 10y agoAdmittedly it is the kind of argument that needs some justification. Roughly what I mean is, a car in the middle of the desert will just roll until it stops because there is a lot of friction between the tires and the ground. By contrast a plane flying above the desert left to its own will crash and burn, because the dissipation of energy occurs at the end of its trajectory.
- knodi123 10y ago> a car in the middle of the desert will just roll until it stops And an airplane will glide pretty far until it stops. Every single pilot has practical first-hand experience with unpowered landings- they're on the curriculum when you're getting your license. It's a remarkably survivable thing to do, especially in a desert with a road like your example.
- nacs 10y ago> Every single pilot has practical first-hand experience with unpowered landing Considering many people can barely handle driving normal cars correctly, the number of average flying-car consumers that will have airplane pilot-level training, knowledge, skill, and maintain sanity in emergency situations like unpowered landings is minuscule.
- CamperBob2 10y agoSurely nobody thinks this can happen without autonomous (or at least remotely centralized) control? Do they? Because if they do, they've obviously never driven a normal car in traffic, much less a flying one.