Flying Cars

[McColm]

Hi,
Through the ages there have been cars that can fly and movies made i.e, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Man with the Golden Gun and Thunderbirds.
I too have managed to get a TX1 SE Black Taxi Cab, with four passengers, to fly through the air. Well I hit a speed bump at 50mph and all four tyres were airbourne for a split second.
Now I don't know the ins and outs of how they work and I've searched through Google and come up with a few whiffs to have a go at;

[ysi_maniac]

^^^^
Lo all of them

[Weaver]

The increasing problem with all real-world flying car concepts is weight. Aeroplanes require light weight structures and don't have any significant crash resistance, but ever increasing safety regulations mean that road-legal cars are getting more and more solid. Of course, if you can carry a car inside an aircraft then you can make it fly by directly attaching wings to it, but the heavier it is, the larger those wings have to be and the harder it gets to fold them up out of the way when in car mode. Some real world flying car proposals have had the car towing it's wings in a fairly long trailer...

Of all those concepts, the "heli-car" one looks most favourable to me. Helicopter rotors can be folded neatly even when they have many blades to carry increased weight, and the use of co-axial rotors eliminates the need for a long tail too. Furthermore, since helos don't have to be as rigorously aerodynamic as cars, a heli-car could have permanently deployed driven wheels at no great penalty.

[jcf]

Flying car or roadable aircraft?

The reality is that the majority of flying cars, real or concept, have actually been the latter.

A good one stop site:
http://www.roadabletimes.com/

[McColm]

Thanks for your comments.
Might have a go at putting one or two ideas in creating a flyable R/C model.

[NARSES2]

Flying car or roadable aircraft?


The reality is that the majority of flying cars, real or concept, have actually been the latter.

A good one stop site:
http://www.roadabletimes.com/

Very true Jon, most of the ones in my memory have been that's for sure

[raafif]

but what about air-space control --

you gotta whif heli-trafic-lights,
UAV speed cameras,
a mid-air crash (non-fatal) in 3 dimensions -- parachute return to ground ?
a mid-air pull-over by sky-cycle cop -- "ok, just you hover right there, bud, while I write you this ticket"

[McColm]

Maybe they could follow Visual Flight Rules- need to be able to see the ground at all times, under 3,000ft. The same as gliders/sailplanes, microlites, handgliders, parahawks, balloons and all types of airships.

[Cobra]

Guys, when i saw the Heading, i thoght of Nick Fury! S.H.I.E.L.D. uses a Flying in the Comics that's based on a 70's Camaro or Chrager, Not sure which. you may want to Google S.H.I.E.L.D. and see what you get. Dan

[McColm]

Well Google has it down to Marvel Comics, no pictures of S.H.I.E.L.D. flying cars or their headquarters a flying helipad/aircraft carrier.
Might have to go on Utube.

[Weaver]

Video rounding up four currently live projects, with links:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRZNLBL7Px4

The PAL-V looks the most 'practical' to me, since it seems to be operating on three-wheeled motorbike Construction and Use regs rather than car ones.

[McColm]

Thanks Weaver.

[kerick]

The way the general public drives on roads with clearly marked lanes, traffic signals and rules of the road, do we really want to give everyone aircraft? The death toll would be staggering.

[zenrat]

...do we really want to give everyone aircraft?...

Yes, as long as mine can have sidewinders and a minigun.

[Rick Lowe]

The way the general public drives on roads with clearly marked lanes, traffic signals and rules of the road, do we really want to give everyone aircraft? The death toll would be staggering.

I quite agree... the General Driving Public has enough problems thinking ahead and anticipating (or just plain being courteous) in 2 dimensions... do we want to introduce a 3rd?
Add in the height you'll fall when the engine/lift stops... eek! May be a good market for automatically deployed parachutes or ballutes?

Cheers