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The primary problem with flying things is that they currently rely on atmospheric lift. Loss of lift equals death of occupants and vehicle. It's only when we t
by kordless 10y ago
The primary problem with flying things is that they currently rely on atmospheric lift. Loss of lift equals death of occupants and vehicle.
It's only when we transition to alternate means of lift that flying will be "safe" for public consumption and operation.
- cpncrunch 10y agoThere are safety measures such as autorotation and airframe parachutes that can safely land the aircraft after an engine failure.
- alphapapa 10y agoAnd what happens when a Cessna parachutes onto the roof of your house? Onto the middle of a busy street? etc. If we were all using flying cars, this would become a regular occurrence. It's just not practical at that scale.
- skj 10y agoWhat happens when a car veers off the road into your living room?
- PhasmaFelis 10y agoThe basic design of roads and their surroundings mean that an out-of-control car is relatively unlikely to collide with a building, as opposed to another car, a utility pole, a divider/barrier, etc. Conversely, an aircraft falling over a built-up area is very likely to encounter a building, and even if it lands in a road, it's going to be harder for moving cars to spot and avoid than an out-of-control car would be.
- TeMPOraL 10y agoProbably much less damage, because a typical car in the city is going much slower than a typical plane falling from the sky, and kinetic energy goes with square of velocity...
- cpncrunch 10y agoA plane (with BRS parachute) falls at 10-20mph, according to BRS's website. Typically a small plane will weigh about 2000-3000lb. A car in the city will be going at about 30mph, and will weigh about 4000lb. There are news stories here regularly of cars driving into storefronts. Generally when I hear a story about a Cirrus activating their parachute, it lands on empty space and doesn't do any damage.
- tempestn 10y agoAny reason you couldn't add steering controls to an emergency parachute, just like skydivers use? Not manually pulled, but with some small emergency actuators? Basically you'd just need the ability to pull down corners of the parachute, right?
- cpncrunch 10y agoIf the engine is still operating, you might be able to steer: https://www.cirruspilots.org/copa/safety_programs/b/pull_early_pull_often/archive/2010/09/26/brs-founder-boris-popov-on-the-cirrus-parachute-system.aspx https://www.cirruspilots.org/copa/safety_programs/b/pull_ear... (although obviously most of the times you would want to use the chute is because the engine has died!)
- alphapapa 10y agoMaybe. But if you're making an emergency landing in a populated area, there is generally no safe place to land. Parachute or not, you're probably going to land on or in the middle of something, and injury or property damage is almost certain. Whereas, if my car breaks down on the street...
- alphapapa 10y agoDrop a 3,000 lb aircraft on a roof at 20 mph, and I think it will break through the roof.
- cpncrunch 10y ago
- alphapapa 10y agoMost roads don't point at people's living rooms. Now and then I see a house at the top of a T intersection, and I can't imagine living there. I used to drive down a country road that had nice houses a few feet from a curve in the road, so any car that didn't make the turn would hit the house. I would never live there, either. But imagine hundreds or thousands of small aircraft flying over your house every day, driven by non-pilots, maintained like automobiles. I wouldn't want to live there, either.
- tim333 10y agoLots of people fly currently and there is seldom fatal loss of lift.