flying cars.... the thing of science fiction or the future

[ecuworrier]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2015744/Terrafugia-Transition-US-approval-Flying-cars-UK-skies-5-years.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

when i saw this immediately thougyht of the complexity of logistics and accident insurance... like not only midair collisions but fall out causing damage to person and property ....still.. with inventions gaining popularity by use .... could it be... the future?

GOD BLESS!

Peace and Love,

[Jan]

they look rather cumbersome at the moment don't they? Still - I guess they will make some improvements in time .... maybe we will all be flying around like the Jetsons in yrs to come 

(proximity detectors and shields might be useful inventions to go with this)

[AndrewF]

I think it could certainly be a prototype of the way forward. Think of all the times you have got stuck in traffic... - though of course to deal with that you would need vertical take-off! Actually I am surprised it has taken so long - bearing in mind that the navies of the world have had planes with fold-up (or swing-) wings for ages.. I guess it comes down to development costs...

[tranchiebabe]

Hmmmmmmmmmmm I wonder if it might be like the Sinclair C5 and just as useful?

[Jan]

Hmmmmmmmmmmm I wonder if it might be like the Sinclair C5 and just as useful?

"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers."
- Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943

"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home."
- Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of DEC

"But what...is it good for?"
- Engineer at the Advanced Computing Systems Division of IBM, 1968, commenting on the microchip

"I have travelled the length and breadth of this country and talked with the best people, and I can assure you that data processings is a fad that won't last out the year."
- The editor in charge of business books for Prentice-Hall, 1957

"Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons." - Popular Mechanics, 1949

"So we went to Atari and said, 'Hey, we've got this amazing thing, even built with some of your parts, and what do you think about funding us? Or we'll give it to you. We just want to do it. Pay our salary, we'll come work for you.' And they said, 'No.' So then we went to Hewlett-Packard, and they said, 'Hey, we don't need you. You haven't got through college yet.'" - Steve Jobs, cofounder of Apple Computer

... hmmmmm indeed 

[ecuworrier]

..look if only one person has one and uses airspace that is not used by anyone else... that person would be a very rich person /fanatical enthusiast(with financial resources at disposal or some credit uummpphh!).....  one ponders on the amount of fuel/energy required to ensure reliable vertical take off in all weathers ... one ponders also what does happen when one of these comes to grief mid-air say over a motorway ... or housing estate... farm space etc...  who is gonna regulate airspace who is gonna pay for regulation of airspace when this all goes commercial?..... i guess the USA experience will throw up some interesting info ... though they have heaps more open space for things to go wrong than we have


GOD BLESS!

Peace and Love,

[AndrewF]

VTOL is only a suggestion I threw in - and the problems of them crashing over a populated area are the same as for light aircraft. But yes, I wold guess that they would have to be height-limited or to be under the control of the Air traffic controllers which would put one hec of a strain on the current system!

[ecuworrier]

VTOL is only a suggestion I threw in - and the problems of them crashing over a populated area are the same as for light aircraft. But yes, I wold guess that they would have to be height-limited or to be under the control of the Air traffic controllers which would put one hec of a strain on the current system!

mm only today a light aircraft flew into someone's house... now multiply that by hundreds of thousand or zillions and ground zero would become the norm.... still could save the emergency services!

cn you imagine the joyriders n'all!

GOD BLESS!

Peace and Love,

[tranchiebabe]

It would be a total nightmare, there are enough crashes on the roads, without cars falling out of the sky!

[Jan]

it would be scary yes - until there is the technology to make flying/shuttle cars safe. There would be no need for Air Traffic controllers if each car was able to negotiate the airspace by 'interlinking' with other vehicles and buildings around it.

I get a bit scared when I hear those little planes doing their 'stunts' in the airspace near us. They cut their engines and I think there is a chance they can land on a house or two. Obviously there is a risk of it happening - it has happened in Salford. The night before it happened I actually had a nightmare about an aircraft crashing into 2 houses!

[ecuworrier]

it would be scary yes - until there is the technology to make flying/shuttle cars safe. There would be no need for Air Traffic controllers if each car was able to negotiate the airspace by 'interlinking' with other vehicles and buildings around it.

yoo have great faith in technology! none of it is foolproof .......nevermind what happens when the system breaks down!

I get a bit scared when I hear those little planes doing their 'stunts' in the airspace near us. They cut their engines and I think there is a chance they can land on a house or two. Obviously there is a risk of it happening - it has happened in Salford. The night before it happened I actually had a nightmare about an aircraft crashing into 2 houses!

maybe that's all the air traffic control that's needed..... ?

GOD BLESS!

Peace and Love,

[ecuworrier]

[Jan]

yoo have great faith in technology! none of it is foolproof .......nevermind what happens when the system breaks down!

oh I know Ecu - I am one of those people who complains lots when my own techi stuff goes wrong. Just recently my computer 'died' (logic board failure) - but then you think how much stuff computers do and how far they have come in a relatively short space of time. Got a new 'flying machine' now - it would have cost nearly as much to replace the logic board so it made sense, plus I needed greater capacity for work.

Humans rely a lot on our technology for all kinds of things. When the system breaks down - we are a bit lost aren't we?