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Remember the "flying car" we were told would be part of our future?

Gregg Axley

I'll Lock Up
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5,125
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Tennessee
That means a few people I know, will be getting their drivers license back soon.
Why?
Because each one had heard "you won't get your license back until they start flying cars." :D
 

Stearmen

I'll Lock Up
Messages
7,202
Many have tried, none have succeeded. This one came close! [video=youtube;m7L1dFyMmNs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7L1dFyMmNs[/video]
 
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Horace Debussy Jones

A-List Customer
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416
Location
The Bowery
The Aerocar was futuristic for it's time, but the Transformer aspect of this newest version is the apex of futuristic convenience. :)
Just imagine,...driving down the mundane highway, approaching a horrible traffic jam, and then freeing one's self from the surly bonds of earth with the touch of a button.
The only way to travel.
 
Messages
11,914
Location
Southern California
When they figure out how to make them fly without wings, I'll be impressed. Until then, it's not a flying car, it's just a small airplane with fenders and headlights.
 

LuvMyMan

I’ll Lock Up.
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4,558
Location
Michigan
I have no personal friends that have done that flying car event...but I have heard a few people (after one too many drinks) have found themselves in a "flying car".....the landing has to hurt!

My Husband while living out west had an opportunity to watch a test of one of those flying cars that did not have any wings, had separate motor pods that directed the lift and movement direction. He said they could only control it if the car never went more than a few feet off the ground. That was a long time ago, and he said the car and maker had been showcased in Popular Mechanics. No new news about them since then.

I guess it would be nice to have one....but it would need "phasers" on it to blast things out of the way!
 

Horace Debussy Jones

A-List Customer
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416
Location
The Bowery
This flying car, although it has wings, is the closest thing we've got to the scifi concept of a "flying car" that I've seen so far. The fact that the driver doesn't have to stop and get out to attach wings is a real breakthrough.:D
Something that's more like a VTOL or a helicopter might be in the works too.
Who knows?,..maybe it's time to parcel out a little more of the alien technology they got at Roswell? ;)
 

LuvMyMan

I’ll Lock Up.
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4,558
Location
Michigan
The idea is very tempting. But can you imagine what type of accidents would take place if that was all we had? There would be flying cars sticking out of the sides of homes and business buildings from "pilots" having lose of control, drunk driving, or not paying attention due to that one very famous and dreadful problem, MOTHER IN LAW back seat driving! lol!
 

nick123

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Messages
6,366
Location
California
And there's a part in a Dr. Steven Greer book where a someone hypothesized that if we could introduce reverse-engineered alien anti-gravity propulsion to cars, there wouldn't be a need for roads, because the cars would be forever elevated in the air. No need to even park...he went on to say that more than likely we'd be commuting to work over landscaped fields and scenic flower gardens!
 
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Messages
11,914
Location
Southern California
The idea is very tempting. But can you imagine what type of accidents would take place if that was all we had? There would be flying cars sticking out of the sides of homes and business buildings from "pilots" having lose of control, drunk driving, or not paying attention due to that one very famous and dreadful problem, MOTHER IN LAW back seat driving! lol!
And this is the reason we won't have flying cars any time soon--a lot of people can't even control cars with four tires on the ground. :eusa_doh:
 

1961MJS

My Mail is Forwarded Here
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3,364
Location
Norman Oklahoma
And this is the reason we won't have flying cars any time soon--a lot of people can't even control cars with four tires on the ground. :eusa_doh:

Hi

As long as there's a Federal Aviation Administration, you won't have flying cars. I'm not sure if Congress could get them to let go of the sky. I don't blame them, people are dumb enough on the ground and if you can fly over a house, you can screw up and land on it.

later
 
Messages
11,914
Location
Southern California
Hi

As long as there's a Federal Aviation Administration, you won't have flying cars. I'm not sure if Congress could get them to let go of the sky. I don't blame them, people are dumb enough on the ground and if you can fly over a house, you can screw up and land on it.

later
Excellent point. At a glance, flying cars seem to be a good idea. But when you examine all of the angles and everything it would take to make them commonplace, the kind that stay on the ground are far more practical and much safer.
 

Horace Debussy Jones

A-List Customer
Messages
416
Location
The Bowery
The driver in the video takes off from an airport, so it is considered to be an aircraft for the most part. But upon landing the wings fold back out of the way and off you go down the freeway.
Maybe this should be described as a "automotive aircraft" then? Flown like a plane in accordance to all existing laws of the air, and then the road when driven on the ground. Licensing might get confusing.[huh]
 

Stearmen

I'll Lock Up
Messages
7,202
The Experimental Aircraft Association has had a contest off and on through the years for an airplane you can fold the wings and tow home. The biggest problem is, airplanes and cars are very different in their structural specifications. Airplanes need to be very light, Kelly Johnson joked during the U2 development, "I'd sell my Mother Inlaw for just one less pound!" Cars have to be tough to take on bumps and pot holes. The two just don't mix all that well.
 

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