Another flying car

[rotornut]

http://english.pravda.ru/science/tech/09-04-2007/89324-pal_v_hybrid_car_fly-0

[Tickle]

I'm not too sure about that.

A friend showed me some videos on YouTube of something called the X-UFO. Anyone heard of it? It has 4 outboard motors driving rotors in an X-configuration. Extremely stable and very quick, as a remote controlled model though. I wonder what happens if one engine fails? Will it droop and become unstable?

[rotornut]

There have been a number of attempts at making a practical flying car over the years but none have ben successful: Hall Flying Car/ConVairCar, Hervey Travelplane, Waterman Aerobile, to name a few. I recall back in the fifties Hiller had an idea for a car/helicopter that used ducted fans in the fuselage instead of external rotors. It obviously never went anywhere - I don't know if they even produced a prototype.

[NickLappos]

All these ideas are not impossible from a physical point of view, but they involve massive power sources, fuel flows and noise. Disk loading is a concept that escapes everyone, but it governs all hovering flight.

[rotornut]

Too bad. The Hiller concept was on the cover of Popular Science or Popular Mechanics back in the fifties and looked very cool. Unfortunately, I guess that's as far as it got - I couldn't find it on the Hiller website.

[Head Turner]

I've got a car that drives on the ground and also flies, the flying bit is done after a crest or bridge. There is no requirement to info the CAA, or is there?

[Gaseous]

These guys are all starting from the wrong end. Instead of making a car the flies why not make a helicopter that drives. If I put on a nosewheel with a Honda 50 engine and use the ground handling wheels, my Enstrom should be roadworthy by this afternoon.:ok:
Edit: Thats just asking to be photoshopped, isnt it?:}

[Graviman]

I would be more curious about folding rotor system developed by Dutch Aerospace Laboratory (NLR) for the PAL-V Europe helicar. If this does allow a low diskloading and affordable means of getting rotor time then i wish John Bakker well. Of course the average car driver will not be aware of vortex ring state and/or need to drop collective sharpish for engine failure. In general teetering rotor handling qualities take time to master, so i would be interested what control measures are put in place. Finally machine will potentially need to meet automobile and helicopter crash requirements.

These are the more practical aspects that potentially make this project more difficult than say the Aquada amphibious car (http://www.gibbstech.co.uk/aquada.php)...

Mart