Flying Cars - The Dream is Still Alive
Flying cars have never seemed to move out of the concept phase and yet they remain a fascination for many. The challenge is kind of like designing an all-in-one printer/fax/scanner. At the end of the day you get a product that is mediocre in all three tasks. But innovative materials like carbon-fiber composites have begun dropping in price and allow for the construction of incredibly strong and light structures. These materials along with new lightweight engines are starting to make the dream a reality.
The Terrafugia Transition Proof of Concept Vehicle (pictured below) made its debut at AirVenture airshow in Oshkosh, WI this past July. The Transition is a roadable (the preferred industry term) sport aircraft being designed to fly up to 400 nautical miles and to easily convert between road and fly modes from the cockpit/driver's seat.
Flying car at home
Flying Car with Wings Deployed
Flying Car with Wings Folded
A very informative post. I
A very informative post. I am a pilot and live very close to MIT, so therefore I have been following the development of this flying car prototype. If this one comes to full fruition, it can change general aviation as we know it today. Keep posting about it's progress.
a nice dream, but really,
a nice dream, but really, who would actually use it? the idea of having a plane in every garage is comical. Imagine the congestion around the city owned airports, when everybody wants to air-commute to the office 10 miles away, and the waiting time to land. Have a small road accident with it and the $300,000 multi-purpose vehicle is now reporting to Oklahoma, and can't fly. Then we will all see that it was much better to fly airplanes, and drive cars. I'm not trying to dampen anyones spirits, I'm all for innovation, and fun things, and I smile as I write this, imagining an utopian concept of everybody having one. Like the Jetsons. Cheers, all.
Wingnut
Dream On , Dream with
Dream On , Dream with me
Dream for the years
Dream for the laughter
Dream it for the tears
Dream it just for the days may be tomorrow the good lord will take you away.
If the Wright Brothers did not make a dream to fly than certainly we would be walking these days.
Nice modeling done for the product,
Cheers :)
I don't think most people
I don't think most people are made for flying a 400 mph aircraft or car. Congestion may be the slightest problem, crashes would be alot more severe than on the ground. Sounds harsh, but mortality rates wouldn't be in favour of this new kind of transportation. Luke from Airsoft
Well, I'm not trying to
Well, I'm not trying to dampen anyones spirits, I'm all for innovation, and fun things, and I smile as I write this, imagining an utopian concept of everybody having one. Like the Jetsons, anyways thanx for the share.
In science fiction, the
In science fiction, the vision of a flying car is usually a practical aircraft that the average person can fly directly from any point to another (e.g. from home to work or to the supermarket) without the requirement for roads, runways or other specially-prepared operating areas. In such works they can often start and land automatically in a garage or on a parking lot.[1] In addition, the science-fiction version of the flying car typically resembles a conventional car with no visible means of propulsion, unlike that of an aeroplane.
A flying car is subtly different from a hovercar which flies at a constant altitude of a few meters above the ground.