Funny you say “Flying Car.”
As a recovering aircraft engineer I have made a good deal of money consulting for “flying car” start up companies. I have worked with three companies from ground up to ultimate failure. Once you hit that wall of the feds you stop. (By the way... Having worked with the FAA it is one of the VERY few federal agencies that are filled with experienced aircraft engineers and they fulfill an extremely important roll. I have the utmost respect for the FAA and several of my friends and colleagues went to work for them after stellar careers as engineers.)
No matter how good the flying car concept is there is the impenetrable gorilla of the FAA. You simply can not just roll out in your flying car and jet off somewhere. The two technologies do not easily coexist.
That being said... What Musk has done is managed to buy the government with his “green” approved progressive fantasies. If he is indeed planning a flying car this means he has the NTSB, EPA, and the FAA in his pocket. The ONLY way, and I say that with some authority, to get a realistic flying car with mass appeal is to drag the entire FAA and federal government dinosaur along with your plan.
That’s kinda funny.. I just said the same thing to someone here in private message.
Getting the FAA to go along with a plan is the definition of baby steps. I’m seriously impressed with the work of the ICON team in their water plane.
They bent over to the FAA, but got the FAA to even introduce the white whale of a new licence scheme. That AMAZES me.