5 ms·

This is very cool - though this type of vehicle should really be called a "roadable-plane". The real dream of the flying car is having the utility of a car (ki

This is very cool - though this type of vehicle should really be called a "roadable-plane". The real dream of the flying car is having the utility of a car (kids, groceries, etc.) with the ability to fly from point-to-point - not drive it on the road. The Jetsons had a flying car without wheels or roadability - that's the ideal. This means the city-friendly / VTOL aspect is waaaay more important than the "fast taxi" approach being taken. The Moller M400 (I know vaporware) seemed A LOT closer to this. Of course, the design of this vehicle makes more sense for today: land on a small runway on the outskirts of town, and then drive to your real location. This saves a ton of energy and seemingly works okay with existing infrastructure - assuming your city has a nearby airstrip.

SoftwareMaven 14y ago
I would easily trade my motorcycle for this, though.
lotharbot 14y ago
The "real dream of the flying car" seems to differ from person to person. Some people essentially want a flying machine that they can land in their driveway and parking lots, that they can take to the air for all but the shortest trips, with little need for "car" abilities. Others want something that's a car the majority of the time, but can fly on those midrange (60-600 miles) city-to-city trips. VTOL on city streets is unlikely to be popular any time soon, largely due to safety concerns. But there's been a constant push for decades for something that can take off and land at small airstrips, and with only a few minutes' conversion work, can then drive over to grandma's house. Turning a 6 hour drive into a 3 hour flight would be a big deal.
- marvin 14y ago
  I'm convinced that what's eventually going to turn the tide for these kinds of vehicles is if we can make a tiltrotor ducted fan thing with adjustable fan geometry _and_ wings. Something like the V-22 Osprey, except with adjustable ducts around the fans. This way, you can get both the high thrust required for takeoff and the low drag required for cruise. Wings are a requirement if you want to keep the fuel consumption low. A vehicle like this wouldn't have comparable cruising speeds to airplanes (something like 80mph cruise), but could take off and land anywhere, and would have higher fuel efficiency than one of today's cars. There are actually canarded airplames today which cruise at 160 knots and use less fuel per mile than a car. I'm actually surprised there isn't more research into these kinds of vehicles, but I guess the Osprey fiasco has everyone running scared.
glenntzke 14y ago
This is more like a driving helicopter than a flying car. Although I think the gear required to safely operate isn't much worse than any fully dressed motorcyclist would wear.
Tloewald 14y ago
I think the dream needs to include fuel efficiency.

SoftwareMaven 14y ago

I would easily trade my motorcycle for this, though.

lotharbot 14y ago

The "real dream of the flying car" seems to differ from person to person. Some people essentially want a flying machine that they can land in their driveway and parking lots, that they can take to the air for all but the shortest trips, with little need for "car" abilities. Others want something that's a car the majority of the time, but can fly on those midrange (60-600 miles) city-to-city trips. VTOL on city streets is unlikely to be popular any time soon, largely due to safety concerns. But there's been a constant push for decades for something that can take off and land at small airstrips, and with only a few minutes' conversion work, can then drive over to grandma's house. Turning a 6 hour drive into a 3 hour flight would be a big deal.

marvin 14y ago
I'm convinced that what's eventually going to turn the tide for these kinds of vehicles is if we can make a tiltrotor ducted fan thing with adjustable fan geometry _and_ wings. Something like the V-22 Osprey, except with adjustable ducts around the fans. This way, you can get both the high thrust required for takeoff and the low drag required for cruise. Wings are a requirement if you want to keep the fuel consumption low. A vehicle like this wouldn't have comparable cruising speeds to airplanes (something like 80mph cruise), but could take off and land anywhere, and would have higher fuel efficiency than one of today's cars. There are actually canarded airplames today which cruise at 160 knots and use less fuel per mile than a car. I'm actually surprised there isn't more research into these kinds of vehicles, but I guess the Osprey fiasco has everyone running scared.

glenntzke 14y ago

This is more like a driving helicopter than a flying car. Although I think the gear required to safely operate isn't much worse than any fully dressed motorcyclist would wear.

Tloewald 14y ago

I think the dream needs to include fuel efficiency.