Flying Cars?

[russellmounce]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7384788.stm

In 20 years could we all be flying round in electric car/plane hybrids which fly themselves while we read the newspaper?

[Lasiorhinus]

I want my hoverboard! They promised hoverboards by now!

[airborne_artist]

In 20 years could we all be flying round in electric car/plane hybrids which fly themselves while we read the newspaper?

We could, but it would take the building of nuclear power stations on a scale that even the French would be wary about. My best guess is that the makers of bicycles and shoe soles have a bright future.

Me, I'm building a huge bungee launch that will propel six people at a time into low orbit. God knows how they'll get back :E

[Put1992]

'driver cum pilot'

Sounds messy, think i'll avoid

[cirruscrystal]

As they say - never say never - all of the problems i can think of are not insurmountable, but the sort of processing power and infrastructure required seems mind boggling though?:sad:

[1d2d3d4d]

Getting out of the works strip is going to be a nightmare with the late shift arriving:sad:

[aviate1138]

The BBC now seem to be employing "The Stupids" to do their journalism.

as before http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7384788.stm

Oh yes! So many ordinary motorists are going to shell out 135,000 dollars for a 2 seat glider with a wingspan of about 45 feet [won't that tuck nicely into one's garage?] and how useful to be stuck on the ground whenever the weather is IMC and with no heating, what a joy to fly in winter and just think of all those happy Nimbys with an airfield at every intersection, not to mention the townies who will be left out of this "Amazing technical revolution". Mode S will need some tweaking I think! We have to pay the BBC for this sort of garbage? :rolleyes:

[Applecore]

At Least Top Gear will have it covered with James who likes Aircraft, Clarkson who likes Cars and Teeth who likes to crash.

Can the Stig fly?

[LH2]

That's no news, just one of those fillers they have been using on slow days for the past 30 years.

The flying car is also a running joke at El Reg (http://www.theregister.co.uk/) (however, here (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/10/10/transition_flying_car_quite_realistic/)'s one of a series of more or less serious flying car articles, much better written than anything from the Beeb).

[russellmounce]

Maybe one day, but the costs of getting it all up and running, and the technology would be too much.

At the moment, you need 45 hours for a PPL, and then you can only fly VFR. I just don't see how you can get into a fully automated aircraft, and let it do all the work as a totally inexperienced pilot. What happens when it all goes wrong?

[EGTE]

Applecore
You may not be far off track ref Top Gear... :ok:
I saw James May at the Warbirds Museum at Kissimmee in April this year. He was filming a piece on the Taylor Aerocar N102D.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerocar