Posted on 08/29/2020 12:31:05 PM PDT by Libloather
TOKYO (AP) - The decades-old dream of zipping around in the sky as simply as driving on highways may be becoming less illusory.
Japan’s SkyDrive Inc., among the myriads of “flying car” projects around the world, has carried out a successful though modest test flight with one person aboard.
In a video shown to reporters on Friday, a contraption that looked like a slick motorcycle with propellers lifted several feet (1-2 meters) off the ground, and hovered in a netted area for four minutes.
Tomohiro Fukuzawa, who heads the SkyDrive effort, said he hopes “the flying car” can be made into a real-life product by 2023, but he acknowledged that making it safe was critical.
“Of the world’s more than 100 flying car projects, only a handful has succeeded with a person on board,” he told The Associated Press.
“I hope many people will want to ride it and feel safe.”
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
I just thought the tires were tucked under the wheelwell.
Still, I doubt this version will “take off”(HeeHee) with the general population any better than it’s predecessors.
Looks like it’s “single person occupancy’ and it’s carrying capacity is also suspect.No room for the groceries or luggage.
The kids will have to hitchhike home(Grins)
And as another Freeper said, what happens when the power shuts off” (Like a brick!)
I think I’ll wait for the ‘Jetson’s model’(I’ve waited over fifty years, what’s another fifty? (HeeHee, Smart ass-ery again(Grins)
I think it has 2 engines, for safety. If one engine fails, the second engine will have ample power to propel the vehicle to the crash site.
I could just see this thing driving down the road with rotors sticking out all they way around it. I would guess that could get ugly quick.☺
Btw, this thing obviously would not be for vacations with the family or going to the store with the family in tow. But commuting, going to work or just fun?
Btw, next time you're commuting to work, look around. 90 percent of the vehicles in bumper to bumper traffic have ONE person in them.
How much you vant for zem, Mr. Haney?
That’s not a flying car. That’s a drone you sit in.
I’m holding off til the model that folds into a briefcase is available.
I want one. I want one.
If you have spent anytime driving the roads of America you really already know the answer. Morons on the ground are one thing, in the air over homes and utility lines? I don't think so.
Where are the optional weapons pylons?
“illegals fire up 275,000 leaf blowers every morning.”
AKA Mexican bagpipes, IIRC.
Today we only have to worry about dumb drivers smashing into the four sides of our vehicles. Tomorrow we’ll be adding the top and bottom. How many will fall from the sky onto people? How many will get a speck of dust on some little gadget and the computer shuts off or sends it tail spinning. The hold muh beer crowd will have lots of fun.
I can almost hear the bad dubbing...
Sounds like a Ron White routine.
https://youtu.be/FH-LmkLFJg0?t=90
My guess is that with the weight of all the car parts, wheel hubs, brakes, steering gear, gearbox, or whatever, if can’t get off the ground.
Much preferred than the Communist Chinese death trap that the Dubai Police Force plan on using.
Spinning blades while parking next to another at the Piggly Wiggly. Can’t wait.
Spent a lot of time doing that. In 7 other countries in fact. Btw, I learned to drive and Germany's autobahns.☺
And the answer is clear, the highways are paved with the blood of fools and those who got in their way. As opposed to those in the air, where tens of thousands of small aircraft, ultralights etc, have no where near the same crash rates as those on the ground.
Er, ON Germany’s autobahns...
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