The flying car (Brit engineer to go to Timbuktu in fan / parasail/ road-legal invention)

The Times (U.K.) ^ | November 9, 2008 | Richard Fleury

[Stoat]

To Timbuktu by flying car: it sounds the most unlikely journey on earth; a sci-fi voyage from the pages of Jules Verne. But this is no fantasy. The car really flies. And the journey will become reality early in the new year when two explorers set off from London in a propeller-powered dune buggy heading for the Sahara.

The seed of this improbable adventure was sown four years ago when Gilo Cardozo, a paramotor manufacturer, had a eureka moment. For those not familiar with paramotors, picture a parachutist with a giant industrial fan strapped to his back, which provides forward motion and boosts lift for the parachute - or wing - during takeoff. Cardozo’s brainwave was to attach a car to the fan.

“I started making a paramotor on wheels that you sit on and take off and it suddenly occurred to me, ‘Why not just have a car that does everything?’” recalls Cardozo, whose Wiltshire-based company Parajet built the paramotor that adventurer Bear Grylls used to fly near Everest last year.

A workable flying car has been the inventors’ holy grail for half a century, but the reality has remained elusive. Just ask Paul Moller, the Canadian engineer whose four-seater Skycar is still at the prototype stage after 40 years and more than £100m of development.

Cardozo, a self-taught engineer with a tiny fraction of that budget, thinks he may finally have cracked it. “I’ve been dreaming about making flying cars since I was a boy,” he says, “thinking about all the ways it could be done and seeing how all the other people in the world have done it wrong.

[Stoat]

My apologies for the severe editing / truncation of this article...this was done in order to remain in compliance with Free Republic posting rules pertaining to articles from the UK Times.  Please click on the main article link to read the full story.

 

 

 

More on this from the developer's site:

Parajet Sky Car

The World's First Bio-fuelled Flying Car

For many, a flying car is but a dream. For the Skycar Expedition Team it is now a reality, paving the way for this to become a common sight in our skies. Whether you are searching for environmentally friendly practical transport or new thrills the Parajet Skycar is no longer a dream….... a machine that can drive like a car and fly like an aeroplane, capable of beating congestion for the commuter or providing a low cost method of reaching remote regions only accessible by helicopter.

We are currently building the world’s first flying Parajet Skycar and after rigorous testing will travel from London across the Sahara to Tombouctou for the maiden voyage in Spring 2009.  It will be the first high performance, road legal, carbon neutral flying car capable of providing sports and rally car performance on or off the road and light aircraft performance after just a few minutes of wing preparation.

Cutting Edge Flexible Wing Technology

A practical flying car has been impossible since aviation began, many attempts have been made...even as far back as the 1960's innovative engineers were designing folding wings that could be towed behind a car or attached to the car specifically for take-off.  So many attempts have been made and yet still today there is nothing available.  A practical SkyCar is now possible for the first time in aviation history due to rapid advancements in flexible wing technology. Wing Designer Mike Campbell Jones of Paramania Powergliders is responsible for this revolution in flexible wing technology.

The SkyCar is made possible by employing the latest technology in high speed, self stabilising, parafoil design. The future in this emerging technology is promising airspeeds of up to 100mph, with precise handling performance and an increased safety factor over conventional rigid wings. The SkyCar 'ParaWing' is so compact it can literally be folded into the boot of the SkyCar by the pilot alone.

Our prototype Parajet Skycar has a steel framed chassis although subsequent models will be made from aluminium which will be lighter and thus increase range, performance and luggage capacity. One pilot and one passenger will travel side by side.

Fly Mode

The Parajet Skycar in "fly mode" will be suspended by the latest ram-air wing and capable of take-off from a field or airstrip in less than 200 metres. It will be easier and safer to fly than any other aircraft, as it has no pitch control and therefore impossible to stall or dive. Should the engine fail, the pilot would simply glide down into the nearest field or strip of sandy desert. In the event of catastrophic wing failure, car connection system failure or mid-air collision, an emergency ballistic reserve parachute can be deployed.

In “fly mode” the Parajet Skycar will have:

A take-off speed of 60 kmph

A top speed of 110 kmph

A range of 300 km.

A cruising altitude of 2000 – 3000 ft

A maximum altitude of 15,000 ft.

 

Road Mode
In "road mode" the Parajet Sykycar will have:

Independent 4 wheel suspension

Rear wheel drive

Acceleration from 0-100 kmph in 4.5 seconds

A top speed of 180 kmph

A range of 400 km.

Conversion from “road mode” to “fly mode” and visa-versa will take just three minutes.

 

Skycar Expedition 2009

 

 

 

[sionnsar]

Should the engine fail, the pilot would simply glide down into the nearest field or strip of sandy desert.

Or, around here, forest of 150' - 200' tall cedars.

[sionnsar]

NnBob, it looks like Timbuktu moved!

[Shooter 2.5]

The size of that sail is barely enough for one person.

[org.whodat]

Some Britt build the same silly thing with a gyrocopeter years ago.http://video.aol.com/video-detail/jakes-custom-built-junk-n-stuff-gyrocopter/732683717/?icid=VIDLRVAUT02

[Stoat]

Should the engine fail, the pilot would simply glide down into the nearest field or strip of sandy desert.

Or, around here, forest of 150' - 200' tall cedars.
 

Parasailers and ultralight enthusiasts occasionally run afoul of the trees 'round here.... an actual car entangled in heavy branches with unconscious and injured occupants strapped into it 150' off the ground someplace in the remote reaches of the Cascades will no doubt provide 'unique' challenges and hazards for rescue personnel. 

It may be awhile before we start seeing any of these vehicles on this side of the pond, however, as so very many cars from the UK and Europe have run afoul of our EPA regs pertaining to emissions.

Should the engine fail, the pilot would simply glide down into the nearest field or strip of sandy desert.

Or, around here, forest of 150' - 200' tall cedars.
 

[Daffynition]

Bindun B4...

[proudpapa]

Can you imagine the cost of auto insurance?

[NicknamedBob]

"The size of that sail is barely enough for one person."

Most likely, it doesn't fly very efficiently. That it flies at all is the remarkable thing.

I thought they'd go ahead and connect the wing cables to the steering gear, but evidently not. They use a separate pedal system for steering in the air.

Sionnsar, if they've moved Timbuktu, you're really going to be in trouble. Last time we were there, you had trouble finding the airport when there was a plane coming in overhead every five minutes.

[Stoat]

Can you imagine the cost of auto insurance?

I'm not sure whether the current policy on the stoatmobile covers me for midair collisions with other aircraft, skyscrapers or large birds....I'm guessing that it probably doesn't.  Hopefully a FReeper from the insurance industry might drop by and give us an idea of what might be involved.

[bigbob]

Looks feasible to me, just a different way of putting off-the-shelf pieces together. Out here in “flyover country” this would be a practical solution, no lack of open and reasonably flat spots. Not every transportation solution has to meet every possible requirement or geography.

[Shooter 2.5]

What I would like to know it exactly who claims it even gets off the ground? Where’s the video instead of that lame computer photoshopped pic.

I like the so-called “offroad capability” picture. The ground looks better than my backyard.

[Viking2002]

I would think that those goose-neck mirrors would fly back and smack the occupants at high speeds......

[CodeToad]

I can imagine the airspace entry request for that one...then notification of leaving that airspace for the ground!

[relictele]

He's late!

[Stoat]

Out here in “flyover country” this would be a practical solution, no lack of open and reasonably flat spots. Not every transportation solution has to meet every possible requirement or geography.

Agreed, although I have no doubt that there will be no shortage of people who think that it's "their right" to try a takeoff or landing from a busy Manhattan street or a congested expressway.  If it's possible for a stupid person to do something in a breathtakingly improper and obviously dangerous manner it's usually safe to assume that it will eventually happen. 

[wizr]

They’ve got me! I am a FAN!!

That parasail could also work as a brake, like on dragsters.

110 MPH in an open cockpit makes the old World War I biplanes look extremely safe. Just don’t lean. Hang on!

180 MPH on the road, WOW!

[Hot Tabasco]

Or, around here, forest of 150' - 200' tall cedars.

LOL! What good is that thing so long as telephone poles exist?

[sionnsar]

Ummm... I believe the speeds are kph, not mph.

[FreedomProtector]

marking...flying car