• Flying cars may no longer be just science fiction
    69 replies, posted
[IMG]http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/d-brief/files/2014/05/tf-x-web.jpg[/IMG] [video=youtube;bp2TWNpTA7s]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bp2TWNpTA7s[/video] [QUOTE]A [URL="http://www.examiner.com/topic/flying-car"]flying car[/URL] was once just a fantasy, something you might conjure up in your mind while sitting in gridlock on the highway. Today the flying car is up and running, although it is just a prototype, it won’t be too long before a car that flies will be on the market, according to [URL="http://www.newsmax.com/TheWire/flying-car-prototype/2014/05/01/id/568850/"]NewsMax[/URL]on May 1.A street legal flying car has been in operation since 2009. It has flown in and out of a New York airport. This futuristic-looking car is called the [URL="http://www.examiner.com/topic/transition"]Transition[/URL] and this $280,000 vehicle was created by the company[URL="http://www.examiner.com/topic/terrafugia"]Terrafugia[/URL], which is Latin for “escape from Earth.” It is a one of a kind car that goes from the road to the runway and then into the air. [URL="http://editorial.autos.msn.com/terrafugia-wants-to-build-hybrid-flying-car?icid=autos_5581&GT1=22017&ocid=ansauto11"]MSN News[/URL] reports that the new TF-X is offers four seats in this flying car and will have some of the bells and whistles in technology that are not available yet in any vehicles. The group of [URL="http://www.examiner.com/topic/mit"]MIT[/URL]alumni who formed the Massachusetts-based Terrafugia company are bringing their dream to the drawing board in hopes of filling the skies with flying cars one day. Today a group of MIT graduates who formed Terrafugia are in the process of taking this concept to the next level with the TF-X, a new car that won’t need an airport to land like its predecessor, the Transition. The TF-X flying car will take off vertically, much like a helicopter. This car will go from the road to the sky and back down to the road. It won't need a runway. The propellers will sit upright and spin until the car reaches about 100-feet, then the propellers swivel into position so that it can move the car like a plane. You can actually take off in this car from a parking space and land it in the same way. TF-X could reach 200 mph in cruising speed and let you get from point A to point B just as the crow flies. The car has limits you will need to work with, as it will travel up to 500 miles in one trip, so a coast to coast no-stop flight is out of the question for now. The big plus is the training you will need to operate the new flying car. It will take just a matter of five hours to learn what you need to know to pilot this flying car. Much of the work is done for you through computers. TF-X powertrain will have “plug-in hybrid capabilities, producing 1,500 horsepower from the two propellers.” An on-board gas tank will work in keeping the batteries charged. While the car’s design is taking hold, it won’t be road ready for at least another decade.[/QUOTE] [url]http://www.examiner.com/article/flying-car-by-terrafugia-tf-x-seats-4-flies-at-200-mph-no-runway-needed[/url]
that is some sci-fi looking shit [editline]5th May 2014[/editline] it's official we're in the future
making flying cars isn't hard, the hard part is the training, safety, costs, and maintenance of these vehicles.
A megawatt? You'll either need a small power plant in there or have a range of a few miles
Oh boy, a [I]flying[/I] car?! How novel and new. Finally, flying cars will be a reality and not ridiculous and impractical. Not like there have been hundreds of these concepts since the 60's. Nope.
Woops, forgot to read. 500 miles out of that? That's some serious energy density.
[QUOTE=June;44729181]that is some sci-fi looking shit [editline]5th May 2014[/editline] it's official we're in the future[/QUOTE] you have a 4 to 6 inch portal in your pocket that allows you to access all of mankind's known information anywhere instantly we have a hard time realizing it but we're been in the future described by past sci-fi works for a long time now
[QUOTE=MaxOfS2D;44729199]you have a 4 to 6 inch portal in your pocket that allows you to access all of mankind's known information anywhere instantly[/QUOTE] 90% of which is porn
Speaking of sci-fi looking shit, from the same news source: [img]http://i.imgur.com/Jnii48l.png[/img] The Pillar of Autumn visited Toronto!
[QUOTE=JgcxCub;44729192]A megawatt? You'll either need a small power plant in there or have a range of a few miles[/QUOTE] watts are just a unit of power, having a 1 megawatt engine in a vehicle isnt that weird the bugatti veyron has a .9MW engine in it
[QUOTE=JgcxCub;44729192]A megawatt? You'll either need a small power plant in there or have a range of a few miles[/QUOTE] It's almost like you didn't read the article.
[QUOTE=michaeldim;44729194]Oh boy, a [I]flying[/I] car?! How novel and new. Finally, flying cars will be a reality and not ridiculous and impractical. Not like there have been hundreds of these concepts since the 60's. Nope.[/QUOTE] Man if everyone thought the same as you progress would never happen. The best inventions have been doubted by people, let's just wait and see how it goes.
[QUOTE=Kaios;44729231]Man if everyone thought the same as you progress would never happen. The best inventions have been doubted by people, let's just wait and see how it goes.[/QUOTE] You can call me a pessimist if you want. But c'mon. I mean really.
Looks like BTTF was right after all
as I always say in these kinds of threads: leave planes to be planes and cars to be cars. call me when it actually hovers, then we're talking.
hmm... ya i don't want to burst your bubble but that thing looks like it has the lift/drag ratio as a brick.. i mean those wings can't possibly produce enough lift to keep that thing off the ground if the engines failed, also 16 motors per pod? thats a recipe for failure
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[QUOTE=michaeldim;44729214]Speaking of sci-fi looking shit, from the same news source: [img]http://i.imgur.com/Jnii48l.png[/img] The Pillar of Autumn visited Toronto![/QUOTE] Us Canadians are secretly the Covenant, but don't tell anyone.
[QUOTE=The golden;44729251]If you've even been in a car for more than a nanosecond you'll realize that you would never trust any person on the road to actually operate any form of flying vehicle. The training would have to be extensive (which means nobody would do it) or the flying car would have to basically pilot itself which is technology that is a long ways away yet.[/QUOTE] Yeah, that's why flying cars need a pilot's license to use. [t]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/31/Terrafugia_--_2012_NYIAS_cropped.jpg/800px-Terrafugia_--_2012_NYIAS_cropped.jpg[/t] Terrafugia. It's a plane that happens to be road legal.
[QUOTE=michaeldim;44729255]You can call me a pessimist if you want. But c'mon. I mean really.[/QUOTE] that's ok we pessimists live longer oh wait... ..wait [B]shit[/B]
The reason flying cars aren't a thing is because they're useless. There's nowhere a flying car can uniquely take you that would create demand for such a thing.
[QUOTE=Sableye;44729287]hmm... ya i don't want to burst your bubble but that thing looks like it has the lift/drag ratio as a brick.. i mean those wings can't possibly produce enough lift to keep that thing off the ground if the engines failed, also 16 motors per pod? thats a recipe for failure[/QUOTE] to be fair some VTOL tiltrotor aircraft have appallingly bad glide ratios, but the ability to autorotate in the event of engine failure
It's always going to be a plane/helicopter that happens to be drivable on land unless it uses something like quantum levitation. [t]http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fqvJ1pTz8rY/T1EG4MRuUzI/AAAAAAAAAEc/m-oD_teujIw/s1600/Valerian_FifthElement2.jpg[/t]
[QUOTE=Timebomb575;44729344]to be fair some VTOL tiltrotor aircraft have appallingly bad glide ratios, but the ability to autorotate in the event of engine failure[/QUOTE] ya but even the ospres have wings and control surfaces, that has no rear stabalizer what so ever so in the event you loose one engine, you're screwed theres no way to compensate for the rotation of the still functional engine
the Weasleys made a flying car in the 1990s and they were pretty much peasants sooo
Until we have a way of using superconductors/magnets as a way to move devices around, flying cars won't be useful. We can't have runways everywhere.
[QUOTE=Daniel Smith;44729292]Us Canadians are secretly the Covenant, but don't tell anyone.[/QUOTE] [img]http://i.imgur.com/aAtbquM.png[/img]
I'll believe it when I see it
I kind of always assumed that the reason that we haven't made a push toward flying cars is not because it isn't feasible, but because widespread use would result in a catastrophic amount of building collisions by people piloting under the influence. Poles and rails work on the ground because it is presumed that the vehicles can't get over them due to the driving being [mostly] bound to the ground, but no such alternative feasibly exists to protect against aerial collisions. (Never mind the amount of people that would trespass on property just by flying over fences)
[QUOTE=The Duke;44729497]I kind of always assumed that the reason that we haven't made a push toward flying cars is not because it isn't feasible, but because widespread use would result in a catastrophic amount of building collisions by people piloting under the influence. Poles and rails work on the ground because it is presumed that the vehicles can't get over them due to the driving being [mostly] bound to the ground, but no such alternative feasibly exists to protect against aerial collisions. (Never mind the amount of people that would trespass on property just by flying over fences)[/QUOTE] You don't need to be under the influence for people to crash planes into things. Flying is [I]hard[/I]
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