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Title: Finally! A Flying Car Could Go On Sale In 2017
Source:
Forbes
URL Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericmac ... -as-soon-as-2017/#44200f54219e
Published: Mar 16, 2015
Author: Eric Mack
Post Date: 2016-12-27 14:14:06 by Deckard
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Keywords: None
Views: 1578
Comments: 4
It's the future promised to us by the Jetsons, "Back To The Future" and even as far back as Jules Verne: Finally after decades of dreaming and waiting, a company has plans to make a flying car commercially available to the public within 24 months. Last year, Slovakian company AeroMobil unveiled its latest prototype of an elongated, road-ready vehicle with stowable wings that can navigate both city traffic and the airspace in between landings and take-offs from the world's airports. (Forbes contributor Federico Guerrini covered the reveal in Vienna in October; check it out for more details on the latest model known as the Aeromobil 3.0.) Then, this week at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, Co-Founder and CEO Juraj Vaculik said that the company planned to move flying cars to market sooner than later. "We are now scaling up quite fast, building the team, and the plan is that in 2017 we'll be able to announce... the first flying roadster," Vaculik told CNBC. "The point is not only to showcase that it's possible to marry together a plane and a car, but to really commercialize it." Vaculik said he expects that the vehicle will initially appeal to luxury car fans and flight enthusiasts, and will have a price tag that also falls somewhere in between the latest offerings from Tesla Motors and a small plane of a "couple hundred thousand dollars." The first commercially available model is expected to be a two-seater with a 435-mile range, take-off speed of 81 miles per hour, top air speed at around 124 miles per hour and an autopilot function. Of course, when it comes to flying cars, the modus operandi often seems to be "hurry up and wait." American company Terrafugia also hopes to begin delivery of its own flying car model this year or next, something it originally hoped to achieve back in 2011. Watch the latest prototype of the AeroMobil in action in the promotional video below: To jack in to my brain and get more on the latest in science, tech and innovation, follow me here on Forbes, as well as on Twitter @ericcmack and on Google+.
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#1. To: Deckard (#0)
I will have to bust out the walls of my already, four car, pre-existing garage walls to make room for a speculative, unproven over-priced piece of junk like this.
I will just stick with my P-51 D
Si vis pacem, para bellum Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God. There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag... We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language... and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."Theodore Roosevelt-1907. I am concerned for the security of our great nation; not so much because of any threat from without, but because of the insidious forces working from within." -- General Douglas MacArthur
It's a nice toy, and seems to fly well. Unfortunately I don't see it succeeding in today's world. Middle to high end business execs can have conventional local transport at a destination and they don't need to be a pilot. Lower end execs can't afford it. Automated taxis will also make local xport cheap so there will be minimal need to drive off an airport, and that assumes transport would be required in the first place in a world that's already become quite digital with teleconferencing so cheap and easy. Aircraft need to be both airworthy and also durable enough to stand up with the ravages of both the elements as well as time, yet also light enough to facilitate flight, and it's still hard to design an airplane that flies well without any defects making it prone to falling out of the sky. Roads are also not always well maintained, and what would a nasty pothole do to this plane? Cars have evolved quite a lot to put up with unfriendly roads. The best market for this might be wealthy retireies that want a fun way to go visit the grandkids once per month. That may be it.
I am moving from Belize to Lima, Peru to save some bucks based on your recommendation.
#2. To: buckeroo (#1)
#3. To: Deckard (#0)
#4. To: Pinguinite (#3)
The best market for this might be wealthy retireies that want a fun way to go visit the grandkids once per month. That may be it.
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