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When will flying cars take over?

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posted on Dec, 4 2005 @ 01:10 PM
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Most everyone believes that in the future we will all be able to fly in cars. There are already developments being made by NASA to create a "Highway in the sky". I believe that car companies today could design some flying cars and start putting them out on the market. However it seems they would rather not put in the extra effort, right now at least.

There are a few people who are making their own flying vehicles, but it seems $1,000,000 is a bit too expensive for most consumers.

I just really wonder when this flying age will come. I mean just going to the local market in a somewhat rural town takes extra time with traffic. It seems there are always road projects going on, trying to expand the highways. Eventually I think we will need to move to the sky. Traffic will just keep increasing, and there will not be enough room to expand.

Unless we have a sudden drop in population, which I guess could happen, there will need to be changes that do not include widening road ways. There are so man cars on the roads nowadays, and I believe there will only be more in the future. So how do we fix this... move to the sky. There is plenty of room up there. There are many differences from driving, however with computers becoming smarter they could drive for us. They already have this technology in some prototype cars.... Program your destination, sit back and relax. The car drives for you.

Does anyone think that commonly flying cars/vehicles will happen in the next.. say 50 years? I personally think that Honda or Toyota will be the first big companies to create their own prototypes.



posted on Dec, 4 2005 @ 01:53 PM
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i agree... it'll take about 50 years
1-time to develope the vehicle
and 2- for a non- fossil fuel engines to become (somewhat) standard
because ive got a feeling running on unleaded it'd cost a boat load (G.D. Bush and OPEC!)



here'e to george jetson and his boy elroy



-UnterMir



posted on Dec, 4 2005 @ 03:24 PM
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It'll never happen. What is in the air that I need a car to obtain? We have planes to take us across large distances and haul other parload, these I think would be much more effecient than a personal flying car. Look at the training you must go through to become a pilot versus a licensed driver. People won't want to go through that.

What happens once people begin to run out of fuel or have accidents?



posted on Dec, 4 2005 @ 03:27 PM
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All those cars in the sky at the one time? Blocking out the sun?
Where do you land? Anywhere you like? How do you organise traffic?



posted on Dec, 4 2005 @ 03:56 PM
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I wouldn't say never, but I agree that 50 years is quite a stretch. There are some serious problems to overcome, and until the Flying Car can prove its more reliable, safer, and less expensive than today's automobile then I don't see much change. And what about infrastructure? We can't have millions of flying cars zooming around in every direction.

However there are many private organizations and developers working on this vision. PopSci featured a great article a few months back that explained the current projects that could one day grow to become the transportation of tomorrow. Who knows what the future will bring?



posted on Dec, 4 2005 @ 04:05 PM
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I don't think the human race will ever be organized enough nor rich enough for this supposed way of life. Plus we'd have to start building up, like WAY up before we even have to need to drive in the air like that.

I never saw that as realistic when I saw it in movies, look at how perfect it all is. On this planet ? nahhhh I don't see it.



posted on Dec, 4 2005 @ 04:05 PM
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Kevin Smith, the director of the movie TextClerks and Dogma and other films made a cute short called, of all things, The Flying Car. In one short film, Kevin Smith certainly summed up the desire that, perhaps, every man who is willing to "throw his hat over the wall" might harbor in the quest of the "flying car"

www.viewaskew.com...



posted on Dec, 4 2005 @ 04:41 PM
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Well I hope they don't come up with a flying car anytime soon, I work for the largest wheel mfg. company in the world. We make wheels for everything from Harley Davidsons to BMW's and every other car you can imagine. (just about)

A flying car would do away with the need for wheels since you'd just have to hover over to your parking space. That would SERIOUSLY cut into the demand for wheels.

I don't even want to think about it


Wupy



posted on Dec, 4 2005 @ 05:52 PM
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I don't see flying cars any time soon in the future, mainly because of demand. There isn't any demand for them. Unlike normal cars, the demand was there because there was no other forms of transport other than horses, trains, boats, etc. The individual freedom of personal transport was probably the main reason they boomed in popularity. The only advantage the idea of flying cars has is the elimination of traffic. Until overpopulation becomes a huge problem, I don't believe governments are going to support it.

The roads will always be used by cars, because the infrastructure is already there. Even if flying cars are plentiful, people will still use the roads, probably with less traffic than in the skies
. Even when skycars become available, they will only be a luxury the wealthy can afford. Don't expect to see skies full of them for many years.

My image of skycars is that they will be totally computer controlled. By on-board computers and a central mega traffic management system. They will communicate with each other and accidents will be eradicated. There will be no human interaction at all. I am 100% sure that there will be no human influence on the operation of the skycars, mainly because of the unpredictability of human actions. Flying doesn't sound as fun if you don't get to steer!

The technology already exists and I remember seeing a show about the 'Skycar' on the discovery channel. It was driven by turbines. Look it up on Google.



posted on Dec, 4 2005 @ 06:00 PM
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Originally posted by Toasty
My image of skycars is that they will be totally computer controlled. By on-board computers and a central mega traffic management system. They will communicate with each other and accidents will be eradicated. There will be no human interaction at all. I am 100% sure that there will be no human influence on the operation of the skycars, mainly because of the unpredictability of human actions. Flying doesn't sound as fun if you don't get to steer!

The technology already exists and I remember seeing a show about the 'Skycar' on the discovery channel. It was driven by turbines. Look it up on Google.


But what about all the bugs and glitches computers can encounter ? That would be a big mess if something was to mess up ever. I personally would not get in anything that was solely run by a computer nuh unhhhh lol There would be a way to hack into the mainframe or something and Heaven help U if U have enemies who can do something like that.

But this would be waaaaay into the future if it were to become a reality.



[edit on 4-12-2005 by ImJaded]



posted on Dec, 4 2005 @ 09:11 PM
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I'm very skeptical of flying cars ever becoming as common as the automobile, mainly because of the idea of having all the idiots we now have on the roads flying all over the place. No computerized "highway in the sky" can compensate for one nut behind the wheel.

Flying Cars



posted on Dec, 4 2005 @ 10:51 PM
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I bet the horsemen back in 14th & 15th century had a hard time believing someday that we would have international paved highways with individual vehicles that carried us 75+ miles an hour across a continent in 3-4 days. I'm sure they never believed we would have an aircraft that flew across the world at 700 or 800 miles an hour.

Point being: Its very possible that someday we could have a sky travel network road system for the individul public. I kind of see it being a combination of both land and air travel simular to now, except when you have to go long distance you have a vehicle that lifts off from hovering the ground and follows a direct path line to the next city you wish to go to. Its useful in the way that it allows somewhat of a straight shot to your destination. Your vehicle could follow air beacons that lead you to where you wanna go which could help in the organization. That is really all a road is now days. Its just a path and surface you follow.

I see it as very plausible in the future. However i honestly don't think it will become the norm for atleast another century or so. Most likely not in our lifetimes.

Carburetor



posted on Dec, 4 2005 @ 10:56 PM
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Dude, closest were gonna get to flying is magnetized cars which hover off the ground but only like a foot.



posted on Dec, 5 2005 @ 01:38 AM
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I say its very possible that someday Sky cars will be common place. I would bet you dont actually fly them though you will just type in a destination get in a relax and the car takes you where you want to go ala the "Highway in the sky"

As for a timescale thats hard..... In 50 years I doubt they will be common. I would bet sky cars in 50 years will be more like top end luxury cars. Im not talking supercars like Enzos and Saleen S7's, more like 7 series BMWs you do seem them from time to time but they aint everywhere.



posted on Dec, 5 2005 @ 10:37 AM
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I think that given the right price, and some decent mileage, a sky car would sell quite well. The real question is whether we would really want it to? I haven't really read up on NASA's highway in the sky vision, but I suspect that it could cause a LOT of problems.

Great example: Suppose you get into a mid-air-collision? Both of your vehicles tumble to the ground. This, of course would create quite a hazzard for anyone on the ground. Houses would be put into peril for example. Navigation systems for these vehicles is a must (the good thing about this though, is that in the air it is less of a big deal). The last thing we need is people driving them manually. It would take drunk-driving to a whole new meaning.

Those are only a couple of potential problems, but the bennefits are incredible IMHO. It could cut my commute down to basically nothing. We spend far too much time in our vehicles as it is. Think about it, if your commute to work is 30 minutes per day (on way) you are spending 5 hours per week, 20 hours per month just sitting there with unproductive time. At least in a train, or bus, you can read or do your bills or something (depending on how crowded it is of course). Having a vehicles that gets you there quicker, and does so without you actually having to drive it is an obvious improvement. Not only do you get there quicker, but your attention isn't necessary for that to happen. You can be doing other things. Also, I have read that congestion would be a thing of the past in the skys. Evidently if all of the existing cars were sky-cars, they would all be separated (evenly spaced) by about a mile apart NASA's skyways.

There is a company called Moller, which is working on a couple of models of what they call the "skycar." One model is a 2 seater, another is a 4 seater. Last I read they were claiming that they get somewhere around 19mi/gallon. That is basically on par with your average SUV. They have 4 turbines, and all of their systems are redundant. If there is a total system failure, it deploys a parachute, which allows you to safely (relatively speaking) float to the ground. I believe they have already sold their first car too. It was a prototype, and I think it went for something like 3 million. That, of course was a prototype though. They are talking about eventually a sub-$100,000 price range for them once mass production ramps up.

I can see it really taking off (pun intended) initially as an attractive taxi option. How many times have you needed to get across town VERY quickly and heavy traffic made it impossible? A sky taxi would be really useful providing the prices were still reasonable.

-P



posted on Dec, 5 2005 @ 11:13 AM
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I wonder if columbus thought the world was round at first ??? I wonder who taught him or gave him the idea that is wasn't ??? There will be computers flying these machines no doubt, in my mind that computers are much more applicable to fly themselves around themselves ... but hey, if a group of 1,000 +++ black birds can fly within feet of each other ... I am sure we can learn or write a program rather .... that will be able to do the same .. the only problems we have with this techonology so far is ... when birds or something NATURAL gets in the way of those jets ... Even now with the hover crafts that we have acquired through research with in the army .... One or two birds flying at the right moment coudl be disaterous ...



posted on Dec, 5 2005 @ 11:43 AM
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Originally posted by postings

Those are only a couple of potential problems, but the bennefits are incredible IMHO. It could cut my commute down to basically nothing. We spend far too much time in our vehicles as it is. Think about it, if your commute to work is 30 minutes per day (on way) you are spending 5 hours per week, 20 hours per month just sitting there with unproductive time. At least in a train, or bus, you can read or do your bills or something (depending on how crowded it is of course). Having a vehicles that gets you there quicker, and does so without you actually having to drive it is an obvious improvement. Not only do you get there quicker, but your attention isn't necessary for that to happen. You can be doing other things. Also, I have read that congestion would be a thing of the past in the skys. Evidently if all of the existing cars were sky-cars, they would all be separated (evenly spaced) by about a mile apart NASA's skyways.



What kind of flying car are you imagining? The kind that takes off and stops on a dime? Because I do not think anything like this currently exist or will exist...anytime soon.



Originally posted by 5Lostboy5
I wonder if columbus thought the world was round at first ??? I wonder who taught him or gave him the idea that is wasn't ???


I guess which ever school he belonged to. Either to Ptolmey or Copernican. Either way his school had a gross miscalculation of the circumference of the earth.



posted on Dec, 5 2005 @ 01:35 PM
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The thing is though, the pessimists have a point. The problem is that skycars have been hyped now for a LONG time (since the 50's or earlier I believe). They would promote the idea that they are just around the corner (pun intended) and that obviously hasn't been the case. So the idea of skycars has become somewhat of a joke.


Originally posted by 5Lostboy5
I wonder if columbus thought the world was round at first ??? I wonder who taught him or gave him the idea that is wasn't ??? There will be computers flying these machines no doubt, in my mind that computers are much more applicable to fly themselves around themselves ... but hey, if a group of 1,000 +++ black birds can fly within feet of each other ... I am sure we can learn or write a program rather .... that will be able to do the same .. the only problems we have with this techonology so far is ... when birds or something NATURAL gets in the way of those jets ... Even now with the hover crafts that we have acquired through research with in the army .... One or two birds flying at the right moment coudl be disaterous ...



posted on Dec, 5 2005 @ 01:56 PM
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Originally posted by Frosty
What kind of flying car are you imagining? The kind that takes off and stops on a dime? Because I do not think anything like this currently exist or will exist...anytime soon.


True. I don't know ANY kind of transportation that allows you to stop that quickly. Here are some stastics on breaking distances at various speeds for the average car:

www.lapdonline.org...

And to answer your question directly, I am imagining a skycar that flys directly from point A to point B (well as directly as possible considering winds and possible geological (or otherwise) obstructions). But again, I have not read up on NASA's vision for the skyways so I am not entirely sure how they implemented the system, but idealy you'd be able to circumvent a lot of the problems of normal traffic.

-P



posted on Dec, 5 2005 @ 02:24 PM
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I am a pilot.

I am also a car owner / driver.

It is SO easy to get a drivers license.

A pilots license takes a lot longer and is A LOT harder, for good reason.

Please don't let people in the air that do not know what they are doing!

Just to get off the ground you need to:

Figure weight and balance so you can take off and land, and not stall in the air. You must also figure your landing weight, which means to calculate burn down.

Figure a Flight plan (NM versus SM) and fuel comsumption. If you run out of gas on the ground, no big deal. In the air, BIG DEAL!

You can drive your car with a little ice, right? Well, ice on a wing tends to make things falls, fast and straight, until they go boom.

Can you maintain your own car, let alone airplane? Have you ever changed plugs or oil on a 40-hp Continental, let alone a 320 HP Lycoming.

Please for the love of all that is good and sacred, STAY ON THE GROUND people!

Thank you

- One Man Short ®



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