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Why is there an obsession with Flying Cars? The last thing I ever want to see is the average American driver or below average American driver flying a car. Anyt

by mullen 5y ago

Why is there an obsession with Flying Cars? The last thing I ever want to see is the average American driver or below average American driver flying a car. Anytime I think of a person who "rolls coal" or gets angry driving, I shudder to think that someday, they might have access to a Flying Car.

noahtallen 5y ago
More than one of the new flying car / flying taxi / electric plane concepts are autonomous. Imo, this tech is more about: 1. Making short flights more viable 2. Making electric planes more viable 3. Seeing if AI is viable as a pilot I also really doubt the FAA is going to just let anyone fly an electric “car”, given how non-trivial getting a pilot’s license is. Maybe there’s a middle ground for drone-type planes which probably have a “simpler” flight model than a plane or helicopter, but I can’t see it being just anyone. Even flying at night or flying in a cloud requires even further licensing and training since you can’t see where you’re going like you can with a car. Can’t see that going away either
- awillen 5y ago
  Right now my understanding is many of the eVTOL companies are trying to make the UI simple enough that it does not require a pilot, but rather an operator, which is a much lower bar in terms of training. The objective is then really to use these as air taxis/Ubers, not individually owned cars. United, for example, is planning to use them to shuttle passengers to/from LAX, which makes a ton of sense, because they can go from designated points (as opposed to something like curbside pickup, where they'd have to find space to land), and they're hitting an ideal use case of avoiding traffic that is predictably heavy. Obviously if/when AI is viable, that makes them even more useful.
pixel_tracing 5y ago
I think stricter licensing and maybe even a mandatory psych evaluation beforehand might help?
Sohcahtoa82 5y ago
I think the problem of a "flying car" is that it will require a pretty major redefinition of "car". The way I see it, you have two common ways of generating lift: You either have spinning rotors on a vertical axis, like a helicopter or drone, or you have a propeller that pulls the vehicle forward, with air traveling over the wings to generate lift. If your idea of a flying car resembles the drone or helicopter, when we already have them, they're called helicopters. If you think of something with wings, when we already have them in the form of ultralight aircraft and small Cessnas. Neither of which are cars, and neither would you want in your neighborhood, since they're incredibly loud. Now, I know know Aeromobile exists and has created a plane with wings that fold and can be driven on streets, but it looks like it'd just be shitty as a car AND a plane.
deleted 5y ago
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by mullen 5y ago

noahtallen 5y ago

More than one of the new flying car / flying taxi / electric plane concepts are autonomous. Imo, this tech is more about: 1. Making short flights more viable 2. Making electric planes more viable 3. Seeing if AI is viable as a pilot I also really doubt the FAA is going to just let anyone fly an electric “car”, given how non-trivial getting a pilot’s license is. Maybe there’s a middle ground for drone-type planes which probably have a “simpler” flight model than a plane or helicopter, but I can’t see it being just anyone. Even flying at night or flying in a cloud requires even further licensing and training since you can’t see where you’re going like you can with a car. Can’t see that going away either

awillen 5y ago
Right now my understanding is many of the eVTOL companies are trying to make the UI simple enough that it does not require a pilot, but rather an operator, which is a much lower bar in terms of training. The objective is then really to use these as air taxis/Ubers, not individually owned cars. United, for example, is planning to use them to shuttle passengers to/from LAX, which makes a ton of sense, because they can go from designated points (as opposed to something like curbside pickup, where they'd have to find space to land), and they're hitting an ideal use case of avoiding traffic that is predictably heavy. Obviously if/when AI is viable, that makes them even more useful.

pixel_tracing 5y ago

I think stricter licensing and maybe even a mandatory psych evaluation beforehand might help?

Sohcahtoa82 5y ago

I think the problem of a "flying car" is that it will require a pretty major redefinition of "car". The way I see it, you have two common ways of generating lift: You either have spinning rotors on a vertical axis, like a helicopter or drone, or you have a propeller that pulls the vehicle forward, with air traveling over the wings to generate lift. If your idea of a flying car resembles the drone or helicopter, when we already have them, they're called helicopters. If you think of something with wings, when we already have them in the form of ultralight aircraft and small Cessnas. Neither of which are cars, and neither would you want in your neighborhood, since they're incredibly loud. Now, I know know Aeromobile exists and has created a plane with wings that fold and can be driven on streets, but it looks like it'd just be shitty as a car AND a plane.

deleted 5y ago

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