Gizmodo: flying cars

British Adventurer to Traverse Europe, Africa in His Amazing Skycar

John Herrman — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 06:53:43 EST

Lifelong risk-taker Neil Laughton plans to travel from London to Timbuktu in a dune buggy, a trip that will take him an estimated 42 days. Oh, and that dune buggy? It can fly.

Laughton's journey will commence from central London on Wednesday morning—on the ground, I presume—and will take him through some of Western Europe, then a large swath of Northern Africa. He'll take to flight when passing through the Pyrenees, then again to cross the Straits of Gibraltar and over the Moroccan Atlas Mountains.

His flight won't be limited though, and Laughton says he'll take off whenever he needs to, or feels like it.

The car was designed by the same team that put together the powered glider that (nearly) flew Bear Grylls over the top of Mount Everest for a TV stunt in 2007, but this machine is altogether more ambitious. Based on a ruggedized dune buggy, the Skycar carries a nylon "ParaWing" which can be fitted and deployed in about three minutes. By utilizing a giant propeller fan, the car is able to take off at about 45mph, after which it an reach a cruising speed of 70mph and an altitude of 3000ft, with the ceiling at a terrifying 15,000ft.

On the ground, the car is no slouch. It'll run 0-60mph in under five seconds, and top out at a bit above 100. Thought the car will spend most of its time on the ground, it can fly continuously for about 180 miles before needing to refuel.

The most interesting bit of this whole story isn't the gee-golly expedition, it's that the team, pending the success of the adventure, plans to sell the Skycar to the public. Though the project has so far cost them $380,000—much of which was dedicated to R&D—the boys think they could sell the whole kit, which would be street legal in the UK, for about $75,000. It's not exactly a Terrafugia, but it'll do. [Skycar via BBC]

Terrafugia Transition Flying Car Unbelievably Close to Reality, Going On Sale Next Year

matt buchanan — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 20:00:00 EDT

Unlike so many other pie-in-the-sky tech masturbation fantasies masquerading as projects that'll see the light of day, Terrafugia's Transition flying car amazingly looks like it really will go on sale next year, as its creators claimed three years ago. Gregory Mone from Pop Sci even got to sit in the $194,000 car, which is basically "a single-engine, rear-propeller airplane that just happens to be street-legal." It's still on track for its first test flight next month, and experts expect that it will indeed fly. We won't get truly Jetsons giddy until it does take flight, but we're pretty excited in the meantime. [Pop Sci]

Vintage Flying Car Lands on eBay's Auction Table

Elaine Chow — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 02:00:02 EDT

Are you an ultra-rich tech enthusiast with a hankering to own a piece of aero-automobile history? Moller International is now offering its M200X, the first flying car of its kind, up for sale on that veritable auction house of luxury, eBay. The M200X is a 2-passenger Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) vehicle that has completed over 200 manned and unmanned flight demonstrations since 1989. Currently, bids are up to $18,888... but the reserve hasn't been met yet so you still have a chance to swoop in and snatch it up. [eBay via gizmag]

Terrafugia Transition Flying Car One Giant Step Closer to Reality

Charlie White — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 09:59:14 EDT

Remember that Terrafugia Transition flying car we showed you nearly two years ago? Its makers have been busy since then, and might even get the thing flying before the end of next year.

This summer, they demonstrated the aircraft's automated folding wing, one of the biggest challenges to the design, and it worked perfectly, opening and closing over 500 times without incident. Says Terrafugia chief operating officer Anna Dietrich, "We're building the rest of the first vehicle now. Our schedule calls for us to start flight testing by the end of 2008, and so far we're on track for that."

The next big challenge? Dietrich told us that the company's "designing the power transfer mechanism from the engine to the prop and the wheels." Explained Dietrich, "The engine we're using is already in use in about 70% of Light-Sport Aircraft, the 100hp Rotax 912." The $148,000 flying car will use premium fuel from any gas station. [Terrafugia, via Technology Review] (Thanks, Terrafugia , for letting us use your video!)

Urban Aeronautics to Sell Fancy Helicopter That They Call a 'Flying Car'

Adam Frucci — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 12:30:25 EDT

I've said it before, and now I'll say it again: Flying cars are a moronic, dangerous idea, and flying cars will never become widespread consumer products like normal cars. People can't drive safely on pavement, so they won't be able to handle planes shaped like cars. I'm sorry to piss on your campfire, but it's true. That doesn't stop poorly conceived companies like Urban Aeronautics from trying, however. Their X-Hawk "flying car" will have a top speed of 155 mph with an altitude of 12,000 feet when it's produced in 2009. You'll still need a pilot's license to fly it, too. Sorry. [New Launches]

Two Grandpas Building a Flying Car in their Garage

Adam Frucci — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 18:20:00 EDT

Face it, people. Flying cars are science fiction, and no matter how badly you want to be Marty McFly the closest thing you're ever gonna get to a flying car is a tiny airplane. But hey, the basic tenants of logic don't stop people from chasing the dream, and who are we to judge?

Vernon Porter and Clarence Kissell are hard at work on their own flying automobile in their backyard shop in Texas . Seeing that these enterprising engineers are 72 and 70 respectively, they've got more motivation than the average dreamer to get their car off the ground before they're six feet beneath it. Will it take to the skies? Well, not to be a cynic, but I'd be very surprised. But don't let that stop you, Vern and Clarence! Prove my cold, jaded heart wrong! –Adam Frucci

Dallas News [via Gadget Lab]

Another Flying Car Tries to Get Your Hopes Up

Adam Frucci — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 21:00:00 EST

From the wishful thinking department comes this video that claims that the X-Hawk flying car will be ready to take off by 2010. OK. Are you sure that's based on actual fact and not because you taught yourself how to make mediocre 3D videos on your home computer? Perhaps the X-Hawk can also help if a UFO attacks your city. Don't worry, if it doesn't work out SimCity 3000 will let you revert to an earlier saved game!

We all need to face the fact that flying cars aren't gonna be happening in any of our lifetimes. I'm sorry, I don't mean to piss on your campfire, but let's be realistic about this. –Adam Frucci

X-Hawk Flying Car to be Ready by 2010 [MobileMag]

Flying Cars: Forget It

Charlie White — Thu, 27 Jul 2006 14:44:14 EDT

We're suckers for flying cars around here. I mean, just look at that picture above. It is so cool. Who wouldn't want to fly above the daily traffic jam, pulling back on the steering wheel and rotating above the fray?

Meanwhile, back on terra firma, Mike Elegan at Personal Tech Pipeline talks some sense into us with his missive about how flying cars are a fantasy, how there's no such thing as a flying car, just a "roadable airplane," and shows us why the whole idea doesn't make a lick of sense anyway.

The guy makes some good points, such as, with all the shitty drivers on the road these days, do you really want them flying around, crashing into other flying cars, houses, and even commercial airliners? Maybe until these things can be completely computerized, flying cars should stay where they are now, in never never land. – Charlie White

The Myth Of The 'Flying Car' [personaltechpipeline, via The Raw Feed]