6 ms·
The whole "flying car" phrase gets tossed around far too much. Every "flying car" I've seen marketed, is either 1) a small VTOL airplane, or 2) a small airplan
by superqd 8y ago
The whole "flying car" phrase gets tossed around far too much. Every "flying car" I've seen marketed, is either 1) a small VTOL airplane, or 2) a small airplane that folds up so it can be driven on the street. Most things are more airplane than car, so it's more accurate to say they are driving planes, than flying cars.
I've yet to see a car than can fly, i.e., something more car-like that can also fly.
- fhood 8y agoI can't imagine anything that is practical, fits in its lane, and can also fly efficiently. Not saying that it can't be done, but I have a hard time envisioning what it might look like.
- arethuza 8y agoIt might look like this? (Warning - not pretty) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hafner_Rotabuggy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hafner_Rotabuggy
- fhood 8y agoHahaha. Thanks, I was actually trying to picture what a helicopter car would look like, and now I know.
- ncbrit 8y agoAlso. http://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/article/6/3/0/530630_v1.jpg http://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/article/6/3/0/530630_v1.j...
- cr0sh 8y agoThe flying Jeep and the flying Pinto (the latter had disastrous results). I currently own a Jeep. My dad once owned a Pinto. Who in their right mind would think "You know, this is the perfect car to strap some wings to!" for either of these vehicles? That's just giving the middle finger to the god's of flight begging for a quick death. Again, in the the flying Pinto's case - that's what happened.
- superqd 8y agoIt may not be practical, but in the world of scifi, I think we have lots of artistic attempts to design what such a vehicle might look like. Take most of the "cars" in The Fifth Element. They don't have wings, and are essentially cars that have some sort of lifting unit where tires would have been. But they look more car-like that plane-like, and fit what I think most of us regard as a "flying car".
- PhasmaFelis 8y agoThere's this thing that transforms between plane and car: https://www.reddit.com/r/gifs/comments/ainmf2/from_car_to_plane_in_3_mins/ https://www.reddit.com/r/gifs/comments/ainmf2/from_car_to_pl... It's kinda funny-looking, but at least it seems like equal attention was paid to the plane and car functions, rather than just making a plane that is theoretically road-worthy. (Not sure how it's supposed to get better mileage in the air than on the ground, though.)
- superqd 8y agoThat's a good example of what I mean. I've seen that before as well, and it's more plane like than car, IMHO. Folding the wings just makes it a plane that you can fit into a lane on a street.
- notus 8y agoYou're conflating car with automobile. Also you don't need any license as it is autonomous.
- superqd 8y agoI think I conflated them because they are synonymous :^) From Google: Definition of "car": a road vehicle, typically with four wheels, powered by an internal combustion engine and able to carry a small number of people. Definition of "automobile": a road vehicle, typically with four wheels, powered by an internal combustion engine and able to carry a small number of people.
- notus 8y agoPopular usage has made them synonymous but the original definition of car that is being used here is not synonymous. Note there are elevator cars, train cars, etc. None of them are road vehicles with four wheels. A car is basically just a cart. Examples of this are words like decimate and awful where there is semantic drift.