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There'll be flying cars!
Stingray
Elite Ranger
in Zocalo v2.0
The Transition by [URL="http://www.terrafugia.com/"]Terrafugia[/URL] is going into production. You can see it in action [URL="http://buzz.yahoo.com/buzzlog/93804?fp=1"]here.[/URL]
While it's a commendable step into an interesting direction, I'm not sure it's going to catch on with the general public. You will still need a runway as it is not VTOL capable. It may get a conversation started with your socialite friends, but not much more, I'm afraid.
It's indeed no BR Spinner.
While it's a commendable step into an interesting direction, I'm not sure it's going to catch on with the general public. You will still need a runway as it is not VTOL capable. It may get a conversation started with your socialite friends, but not much more, I'm afraid.
It's indeed no BR Spinner.
Comments
...and it's ugly, I mean at the very least flying cars should have fins and lots of extraneous chrome.
Jake
[IMG]http://www.tomotoaviation.com/images/Xenon/aa20.jpg[/IMG]
[URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nY8SmllLcIU"]At least you get VTOL.[/URL]
What I find a bit puzzling is that the autogyro does not need a tail rotor to keep it from spinning on itself. I suppose the blades aren't spinning fast enough to cause this effect.
In the picture above it only has a pusher prop to help it move forward.
That video actually illustrates that very well. It required a person turning the main rotor until it caught the wind sufficiently enough to allow the pilot to perform a very short takeoff by flying into the wind.
The question remains though, do we really want that kind of traffic above our heads? Does this actually make sense to have a personal flying car? I'm not sure that it does. If you think about how many planes crash every day and those people are trained and skilled pilots. Can you imagine Joe Schmoe flying this thing?
Having real flying cars sounds too absurd, you'd need to remove the human element from the flight controls to make it even somewhat safe.
Remember kids, dont drink and fly!
Because of this, I [b]love[/b] the autogyro. Mechanically, they're simple as dirt (as explained above by Melkor) and only [i]require[/i] one engine. Several modern designs have come and gone which substantially approved on occupant safety, durability, and cost, but none have caught on due the base design being generally perceived as obsolete and slow (or being mistaken by the press or investors as single point-of-failure vehicles).
The glorious part about Autogyros is illustrated below:
No engine? no problem. Forward motion is slowly reduced (if not eliminated entirely) over time by the passive prop, while descent speed remains controlled. So long as there is any forward motion, rudder and pitch control are still available.
What irks me is why passive rotor assist gyrocopters are not considered as viable. (I know there's a better term for this...) By giving the passive rotor an early spin-up by way of a free-wheeling link to the primary engine, near-VTOL can be achieved with minimal torque-induced spin. Considering that no production car currently has a zero-meter turn radius (given how critical that function is to parking and navigation), I don't see why a flying car would be expected to have a zero-meter launch distance. And as illustrated, an autogyro can most certainly land without incident with full motion cancellation.
The clip above shows how a skilled pilot can set down his autogyro without his pusher prop and this without causing excessive stress to the frame. Just by the look of it insurance companies would have to raise their prices to compensate for the steep increase in risk. You'd also need to add some infrastructure to accomodate this mode of transportation.
So far I see the flying car only in special purpose roles in the hands of organisations and not the broad public.
I don't quite see myself flying to work every day.
The question remains though, do we really want that kind of traffic above our heads? Does this actually make sense to have a personal flying car? I'm not sure that it does. If you think about how many planes crash every day and those people are trained and skilled pilots. Can you imagine Joe Schmoe flying this thing?[/QUOTE]
Did you see the research they did with the retrofit Ferrari? OMG, that's so cool... :D
A car needs to have proper tires that perform well on tarmac. If it rains or worse you need proper traction at reasonable speed. You won't get that with those tiny tires.
[URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pk9sVPIAMKs"]As Top Gear keeps showing us, you won't get far with a tricycle.[/URL] :D
All those "flying cars" work fine as concept designs but they fare poorly in daily use.
That doesn't mean it won't happen, but as you said, these things need to get a lot simpler, and safer, before they can be let loose on the general population.
You mean the [URL="http://www.moller.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=128&Itemid=105"]Autovolantor?[/URL]
It looks like a toy car to me. It's something out of an Iron Man movie. :D
This doesn't like you would be able to fit any luggage into the trunk, at all. ;) Again, you don't get the real (family) car experience.