Posted on 06/30/2010 9:03:38 PM PDT by Korah
We have all heard about the idea of flying cars for years. The popular cartoon "The Jetsons" made a whole generation of kids grow up thinking about robots as maids and flying cars in the future. Well, a few Japanese companies have been working hard on getting robots that can entertain men and and there has been more then a few inventors that have toyed with creating a car fly. Now we have the Terrafugia company that has invented the Transition ® Roadable Aircraft, or "Flying Car". They have even received approval from the FAA to fly their Transition.
Categorized as a Light Sport Aircraft, the Transition® requires a Sport Pilot certificate to fly. It is a two-seat aircraft designed to take off and land at local airports and drive on any road. Transforming from plane to car takes the pilot less than 30 seconds. The Transition® will cruise up to 450 miles at over 115 mph, will drive at highway speeds on the road, and fits in a standard household garage. The vehicle has front wheel drive on the road and a propeller for flight. Both modes are powered by unleaded automotive gasoline. By giving pilots a convenient ground transportation option, the Transition® reduces the cost, inconvenience, and weather sensitivity of personal aviation. It also increases safety by incorporating automotive crash structures and allowing pilots to drive under bad weather. Refundable airframe reservations are currently being accepted.
Follow this link to see the Video of the "Transition", The Flying Car
I think the “Flying Car” has been right around the corner for about 60 years now. Color me doubtful on this latest one.
From some movie:
Commerce is our goal here at Tyrell. “More human than human” is our motto. Rachael is an experiment. Nothing more.
Nice try, but it will never pass the crash safety standards for passenger vehicles.
So it’s an airplane that looks a lot like a car. If they’re going to use it as a car, they better get some better side mirrors. Those fold-up wings make for some pretty severe blind spots.
The Jetsons flying car is not a good comparison. That car could hover and flew by some sort of anti gravity force, not lift created by airflow across wings. The Jetsons flying car could truly be operated by any imbecile. The flying car in the video is an airplane with all of its dangers and required skill to pilot.
Instead of calling it a flying car I would call it a driving airplane.
I will pray..... that the first guy, with more money than common sense......
that buys one of these things, and kills his kids in it, ....... survives the crash.... so that he can be executed at dawn.
Interesting trasformation. Aside from that, in the sky or on land, it is a dork-mobile of the highest order.
That was just stupid. A flying vehicle was never the problem (there are designs much superior to this awkward thing), but practical stuff like pilot skills, traffic patterns and infrastructure.
Now just what would the FAA do about a bunch of these flying all over the place? You know those crazy drivers you avoid..just imagine them airborne.
And of course there would be no such thing as a minor accident in one of these.
Flying an airplane is no more difficult than riding a bicycle - hand-eye-foot coordination is all that's needed.
Flying is, however, much less forgiving ...................... FRegards
LOL! It takes a few minutes to learn to ride a bicycle. You can’t get your PPL in less than 40 hrs and most people take much longer. A really good student could solo in 4 to 5 hours but all they would be able to do safely is take off and land. Even a hang glider or paraglider is much more difficult to learn than a bicycle. Yes it all has to do with eye hand coordination but flying introduces a third dimension of control which significantly complicates matters.
Blade Runner?
I want. Need rich husband right away.
The video just gave a hundred million Jihadi Islamic terrorists a woodie.
Now Muslims can be flying car-bombers. The 21st century magic carpet, all they need next is a bomb bay door. Or a gatling mini-gun on board.
To some folks that may indeed be true, but really it is quite different and far more difficult dangerous if only because of the thought processes necessary to be a successful (live) pilot. If you fly than you are aware of how important it is to "stay ahead of the aircraft". There is no such requirement for riding a bicycle or a car. Running out of fuel in an automobile is an inconvenience to be sure but it can be a death sentence in a plane. Bikes and cars can't be put into a deadly stall, and are not subject to wind shear. Having some sort of problem while riding your bike or driving your car? No problem, just pull to the side and get yourself together and continue the trip. Try that while flying your plane.
Just wait until our southern neighbors start trying to fly across our border with 20 passengers.
Watching the video, the landings look tough. The wheels don’t extend much below the body of the vehicle, and it’s a low-wing design.
Cross-wind landings, if possible, are going to be crab-to-the-last-minute, then yaw and dump it on the deck. No side-slipping to a landing on the upwind wheel looks possible.
It also looks like an uncomfortable ride. The cameras are shaking all over the place on the internal flight footage.
"..."stay ahead of the aircraft"..."
"...a hang glider or paraglider..."
Like I said, flying IS unforgiving of fools and bad students.
Hang gliders and para-anythings ain't airplanes, and neither are helicopters.
Did ya ever notice that there just don't seem to be any antique helicopters at fly-ins? ....................... FRegards
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