Flying cars to solve congestion

Flying cars to solve congestion

uk.cars.yahoo.com

A plane-car hybrid could be on sale within 20 years according to aircraft industry leaders.

Scientists at the 2008 Electric Aircraft Symposium in California believe a flying car could be a production reality.

(visit the link for the full news article)

So remember kids, look left, look right, and flaming look up

uk.cars.yahoo.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Oh great, I work for a supplier to the auto industry, we make wheels.

There goes my 401K

I don't get the fascination with flying cars.

Think of your average car crash. Usually not that bad with only some minor injuries like broken bones or something, now add 200ft to that. What was once a wee bump is now a flaming chunk of wreckage plummeting to the ground.

Of course, these car/plane hybrids should only be available to those with the proficiency to fly, pilots. Letting Joe public out in them would be both horrifying and hilarious.

The next decade should be an eventful one ey?

reply to post by Zanzibar


it would be 9/11 every day

Originally posted by purplemonkey
reply to post by Zanzibar

 

it would be 9/11 every day

That's a very valid point, and needs to be taken into consideration.
Surely it would add to terror threats

reply to post by purplemonkey

I don't believe it would.

These things are tiny and would only have electric engines. If they hit anything the damage would be fairly minimal, the car would probably either bounce off, crumple against the wall or at most just crash through the windows.

It's just that if there's too many of them in the sky, crashes are inevitable and the risk of actually being hurt sky rockets.

But, I support these all the way, were not going to advance without a little risk and the likelihood of everyone getting one, especially with such a high price tag, is small.

It's ok saying the damage wouldn't be too bad.
What if it was loaded up with explosives like a suicide bomber.

So where would these things take off and land? between all the parked cars and moving road traffic or on a runway? If you have to use a runway then what's the point? If you have to land on the road.. i'm building a garage and keeping my car well out of the way! Plus I will be putting bars up at my windows and flashing lights on my roof. At least that way I will have some protection when Mr Idiot ploughs into the side of my house because he's on his mobile!

Seriously, it would be great fun to fly but not practical and not safe. Get a jetpack.

I wonder if parachutes come as standard

If I remember correctly, didn't Dante and Randal have this discussion while stuck in traffic once???

What would you give to own the Flying Car?

Jones says a compact car-plane hybrid would be easier to fly than current small planes as technology will allow the plane to do much of the hard work.

He says the average driver will be able to fly without special training as the plane would have an in-built flight instructor.

Where's the fun in a flying car if it doesn't let you do barrel rolls, a cobra manoeuvre or a tailslide? And with a 300 mile range, it would be more efficient once you get up there, no stopping and starting. Where do I sign?

Just make sure the sunroof is shut before you do a barrel roll

strictly speaking if it rotated around the roof the g force would keep everything inside. But yes it would be a bit silly.

and one has to wonder why the FAA would even let a non pilot buy one. If the computer goes wrong its a bit along the lines of certain brown objects hitting certain fast rotating objects. But thats how most planes are now anyway, so it's a bit of moot point.

[edit on 12-5-2008 by apex]

I'm sure they will add sensors and auto pilot modes etc for extra saftey, and the material will be strong, and the fly areas will be VERY spaceous, etc etc.

What I'm trying to say is, don't let a few doubts and negative thoughts stop you from seeing a good idea. REMEMBER if we always thought like that, we would have never ended up with planes and cars in the first place



[edit on 12-5-2008 by _Phoenix_]

Originally posted by fiftyfifty
So where would these things take off and land? between all the parked cars and moving road traffic or on a runway? If you have to use a runway then what's the point? If you have to land on the road.. i'm building a garage and keeping my car well out of the way! Plus I will be putting bars up at my windows and flashing lights on my roof. At least that way I will have some protection when Mr Idiot ploughs into the side of my house because he's on his mobile!

Seriously, it would be great fun to fly but not practical and not safe. Get a jetpack.

They hover. Sorry for shortness but its simple

How the hell are you going to take off and land from carparks?
Are they going to add extra lanes onto the every road with a miniature "runway" lane?

The only way I could see this thing working is if it was a VTOL hybrid. But then imagine the costs of adding a jump jet system to a car-plane hybrid...
I think it's safe to say this thing is a long way before we work out all the major hurdles...

Hover...
how do they do this, unless the make them more like helicopters?

you couldn't just land a flying car in your driveway.
There would be a designated landing site no doubt, but then would you have to leave your car there, or do the wings fold away so you can drive the rest of the way as normal.
And can these things glide, cos my wife stalls an awful lot

Originally posted by The Godfather of Conspira
How the hell are you going to take off and land from carparks?
Are they going to add extra lanes onto the every road with a miniature "runway" lane?

The only way I could see this thing working is if it was a VTOL hybrid. But then imagine the costs of adding a jump jet system to a car-plane hybrid...
I think it's safe to say this thing is a long way before we work out all the major hurdles...

As I said a moment ago, they hover.

There was a discovery thing on them once where they had a full force working prototype. It looked nice... expensive. but it took off vertically until you hit the desired height then you went in the direction you wanted

Originally posted by The Godfather of Conspira
How the hell are you going to take off and land from carparks?
Are they going to add extra lanes onto the every road with a miniature "runway" lane?

The only way I could see this thing working is if it was a VTOL hybrid. But then imagine the costs of adding a jump jet system to a car-plane hybrid...
I think it's safe to say this thing is a long way before we work out all the major hurdles...

Read my post, like I said I'm sure there was a lot of "How the hell!!?" with cars and planes. But look how quick it happened. That's because some people worked to actually figure out all the "how the hell!?"


[edit on 12-5-2008 by _Phoenix_]