Another flying car enters the ring

I think these "flying cars" are a waste of time!

Who'd want to spend 200.000 bucks on an ugly car which would buy you a nice plane and a nice car from what is left over?
 
Sascha66 said:
I think these "flying cars" are a waste of time!

Who'd want to spend 200.000 bucks on an ugly car which would buy you a nice plane and a nice car from what is left over?
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Not only that, but also the elemental question of what are you primarily trying to build, a car or an airplane? Because if you build a car, then you are not building something that can fly. And, if you build an airplane, then you are not building something that can be a car.

The Terrafugia developed by MIT grads is called a "roadable airplane," which is an honest assessment of this limitation. What they are building is an airplane that you can then drive a short distance home and put in a garage. This concept appears to be designed to be more driveable on the road. The larger tires up front are counter-intuitive. Are you supposed to make initial contact in the flare of the much smaller wheels at the back? And if not, then what a strange and difficult approach to landing would it make for to have to achieve initial touchdown on the nose wheels!

When it comes right down to it, for aerial transportation directly to and from your home, nothing beats a helicopter. It is just that owning a helicopter of even moderate capability is very expensive.

Ken
 
aeromed202 said:
The site- http://www.aeromobil.com/

Hadn't seen this one yet. Looks nice but I'm thinking no flare on landing, sort of more like flying an ultralight down.
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True, but I cannot see how you can safely land that concept. I mean increasing your angle of attack at touchdown is critical. Else, you have to sit there a few inches off the ground in level attitude while waiting for the speed to take forever to bleed down and let the plane plop down! That's not easy to do and likely impossible in crosswinds and turbulence. Does the wing twist to replace changing deck angle to achieve this higher angle of attack? If so, then that's going to be a very strange transition for a pilot.

Ken
 
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