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1. •  
     CommentAuthorFinagle
   • CommentTimeMar 30th 2010

    (7961.21)
   Here's the site that Stsparky's image came from, I didn't see it directly linked anywhere:
   
   http://www.terrafugia.com/
2. • CommentAuthorthud
   • CommentTimeMar 31st 2010

    (7961.22)
   This version of the flying car has been around for years, and by the looks of it, just as inefficient as the automobile. A dangerous-looking design as well, with 4 engines/props. We all know what happens to a car when one of the tires goes flat. Lose one engine and you are flying an unstable craft, lose two engines and no matter what you do it crashes.
   There are already very small helicopters, the old standby autogyro, and the new wave of ultralight aircraft that are more efficient than the flying car.
3. • CommentAuthorroadscum
   • CommentTimeApr 15th 2010

    (7961.23)
   DARPA wants a flying Jeep:
   
   

   In this case, the federal techno bad boys of DARPA have decided to have a crack at a real, no-shit flying car: and probably not just an ordinary car, but an off-road one to boot. They don't want a light plane that you can drive on a road, like the Terrafugia Transition. They don't want a paramotor, either. According to the Transformer TX announcement issued yesterday:
   
   The Government’s envisioned concept consists of a robust ground vehicle that is capable of configuring into a VTOL [Vertical Take Off and Landing] air vehicle with a maximum payload capability of approximately 1,000 lbs.
   
   The sky-jeep should be able to carry four fully-equipped troops, or alternatively one stretcher and one medic. It should be no bigger than 30 feet long by 8.5' wide and 9' high in ground configuration - on the order of two Hummers nose-to-tail - and should have wheels and suspension giving "road performance similar to an SUV" and "capable of handling light off-road travel".

   
   
   Don't get too excited though, DARPA are better at planning than doing;
   
   

   Like all DARPA projects Transformer TX is unlikely to succeed at all. Even if US Marine rifle companies one day do ride to war in handy four-man sky jeeps rather than cumbersome choppers or Humvees, that doesn't necessarily mean flying cars for all any more than Harriers or Ospreys did.

4. •  
     CommentAuthorstsparky
   • CommentTimeApr 15th 2010

    (7961.24)
   Autogyro? Next!