Posted on 07/21/2011 8:46:54 AM PDT by BwanaNdege
Scaled Unveils Hybrid "Flying Car" Over the weekend, Scaled Composites unveiled to the press Burt Rutan's version of a "roadable aircraft," the last design he completed for the company he founded before he retired earlier this year. The two-seat hybrid-electric BiPod hasn't flown, but it has completed some "test hops" on the runway at Mojave, powered by its driving wheels.
The aircraft is designed to have four propellers, two on the wings and two on the horizontal stabilizer, which haven't yet been installed. The wings come off and can be stowed between the pods. The left pod has driving controls and the right one has flight controls. The BiPod is designed to be powered by two gasoline engines similar to those in the Chevrolet Volt, which would power electric generators to drive four 15-kilowatt motors for the four props (only two motors would be needed to drive the wheels in ground mode). Lithium batteries in the nose, which are recharged in flight, provide reserve power. On the ground, the vehicle could cover an estimated 800 miles on 18 gallons of gas (44 mpg) or travel up to 35 miles purely on electric power. In the air, the BiPod is designed to travel up to 530 miles at 200 mph.
(Excerpt) Read more at avweb.com ...
What happens to a flying car after a fender-bender? More efficient to buy a fleet of cars to stash at airports.
Flying Car?
As my son said, “a flying car IS an airplane”.
When I consider the number of morons I encounter daily who can’t handle navigation in two dimensions, I get queasy considering their skill with three.
But wouldn't it be fun to zoom over somebody going 5 miles under the limit in the left lane? In lieu of the rocket launcher in the front grill to persuade them to understand the true meaning of "Slower Traffic Keep Right."
A prototype:
It’s the 21st century. I Want my FLYING CAR
If these vehicles become popular, it will be raining cars.
Every time there is an accident, someone on the ground will be at risk of having a flying car fall on their head, or their home, or their office building.
If you think the skies are crowded with airplanes, just imagine what it will be like having flying car traffic over head.
Somehow, I don’t think people have thought this through.
If you are off by 10 feet in the X, Y or Z axis in an airplane, 99% of the time you're still cool.
In a car, if you are out of position by 10 feet, 99% of the time you are in DEEP trouble...
Another thing: Who would ever trust a dim with a pilot's license? They are more worried about a bumper sticker than an oil change. Go to any college town and the quality of driving is an inverse ratio to the number of stickers cluttering up the paint. They sneer at redneck mechanical types who know what's under the lid thingie on the front end of the car, but can't change a tire.
The design sort of limits conversation.
All true but it’s pretty rare that one is moving at 30mph when things go wrong in the air. Also, it can be tough to pull over and decide what to do when flying
Err... like Hertz and Enterprise do already....:^)
Well, at least it didn’t crash through the roof.
AirScooter II, Moller M400, Springtail EFV, PAL-V... These are all real commuter light aircraft that real people could really commute with. For real. Really...
Burt's offering is no better than the Terrafugia that recently made some headlines.
If you can't park it in a Target/Wal-Mart parking lot, it isn't going to take off in the general marketplace.
Yeah that’s much better.
When things go wrong in the air, it’s usually on the evening news...
The desire to pull over is why there are toilets in hangers.
Remember that airplanes don’t NORMALLY travel head-on at each other, passing within 10-15 feet (or less) of each other with a closing speed of 120 to 150 mph. :-)
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