A new flying car could be in your future. Queue Jetsons music...
OK, I wasn't really alive for the Curtiss Autoplane, the Waterman Aeromobile, or the Aerocar, but I can still not imagine a time when a flying car will really take off (pun intended. I know, not great but I do try). I know some have been built already, but they have never been popular. A company known as Volante Aircraft hopes to change that.
I don't know how "green" it is, as there are few details on the technology in use here. But, I imagine that there is some potential here, if it were ever to become a reality, that traffic congestion may be eased some. If anything on the vehicle were electric, say the system that powers the vehicle on the ground, that could be an emissions helper.
I ran through the Power Point presentation on his front page, and although he has many ideas and a working prototype, I would say it is very far from consumer ready - and he knows that. So, he is looking for help, and if anyone out there reading this wants to help out, here is the site where you can.
In conclusion, this is certainly a hybrid vehicle, just not the type we usually cover around here!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Howard Lee Harkness 10:31AM (1/05/2007)
Reminds me of the song "The Future Isn't What It Used To Be", which was awarded Honorable Mention in the 2003 John Lennon Songwriting Contest. From the now-defunct group "Minstrosity":
"Way back in the 1940's
There were lots of magazines
With their covers full of miracles
And futuristic scenes;
Individual flying cars
That safely flew themselves,
And folded into suitcases
You stuck up on your shelves."
(MP3 can be downloaded from http://www.minstrosity.com/record.html)
As a private pilot, I can say that I am very glad that the mass-production flying car is not for real. In aviation, there is no such thing as a 'minor' accident, and when you run out of fuel, you don't just pull over and walk to the nearest gas station with your gas can. And the #1 cause of general aviation accidents is the pilot overestimating his skills (VFR flight into IFR conditions), a very common characteristic of automobile drivers (I also teach Texas defensive driving courses).
I expect Volante Aircraft to fail. At least, I hope the "flying car" NEVER "takes off", at least until the entire flight process can safely be 100% automated (current state-of-the art is not even close). Even now, more than half of the price of a general-aviation aircraft is for the manufacturer's liability insurance, and a "flying car" would only make that worse.
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CM 2:39AM (1/06/2007)
Unfortunately for Volante, the characteristics that make a good plane can make a poor car, and characteristics that make a good car can make a poor plane.
A bigger problem that flying takes more fuel than driving, especially at low altitudes, and fuel is getting both expensive and scarce.
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Greg A. 9:25AM (1/08/2007)
CUE Jetsons music
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