Porsche & Boeing looking at flying cars

[jlex]

https://www.fidelity.com/news/article/company-news/201910101257MIDNIGHTUSEQUITY_A2008467

When I was a kid, they promised this would happen by the year 2000.

[GH85Carrera]

I am still waiting for my jet pack.

Flying cars is just a pipe dream. It will be a total nightmare for insurance companies. I will have to get falling from the sky insurance. Imagine the average bad driver on the road driving in just two dimensions, now free to roam in the sky in 3D and go anywhere and not need a road.

Until they get 100% automation completely perfected it ain't happening.

[Nick Triesch]

Projected 0-60 times?

[tirwin]

[astrochex]

Surely, the FAA will not add any complications to flying car operations.

[dad911]

[KNS]

Unless they are autonomous with the occupant simply being along for the ride, the “driver” will have to be a certificated pilot. That will weed out millions of people.

If autonomous cars do become a reality we will have to have freeways in the skies which will be followed by “not in my back yard” or “over my back yard”.

[petrolhead611]

You will still need an airstrip, have to fuel up, pre-flight after assembling into airplane format, prepare navigation, peruse Notices to Airmen, check en- route weather, weight & balance, radio check, engine check, before take off.Leave out one of those steps and you risk landing extremely heavily . Really,how much longer would it actually take to pull a proper plane out of it's hangar?
The ideca hat if you came across traffic you could just convert to airplane mode and take off and away is pure fantasy . Ok, once landed , you could convert to car mode and drive into town., But that is exactly what rental cars and/ or taxis are for.

[GH85Carrera]

I suspect they will both get some publicity from the venture, and maybe spend a few million to announce, it ain't gonna happen.

Of it they can make a vehicle that can drive on the roads, and actually take off and land, it will cost about the same a private jet. The Honda jet is 4.5 million, and it is not something that will work on the highways.

[Tervuren]

We have had flying cars for a very long time.

Most of them do not fit in on our roads, so they are primarily used to fly.

The real pain to the project is making a production vehicle that passes both FAA and DOT regulations at the same time. Our current flying cars do not need to meet DOT crash safety regulations.

[john70t]

It's a great PR stunt, but I'm still waiting to buy an affordable $30-50k hybrid 918.
Or even a Tesla flare.

When pigs fly...
(not referring to Paul Walker crash)


The problem with vertical-thrust engineering is that it plain dangerous at this time:
-Propellers tend to take up space. And people's heads off.
-Jet turbines tend to BBQ everything underneath it.
-Both require much room for error.

-Accidents will always happen.
-Animals (humans included) always walk into danger, fully congnicent, for whatever reason.
-Lawyers will bring down a thriving company.

-Urban sprawl now exists everywhere under any reasonable flight path.
-People can't be trusted with advanced machinery.
-Neither can basic interconnected computers.
-Neither can government regulations.

-There are no standards for any of this.
-Nor will there ever be during times of chaos and other expenditures.

[Won]

I, for one, am looking forward to seeing Porsche's effort. We all know they don't dick around when they do something, anything. A number of companies are working on similar concept of future mobility. They like to poach people from F1 and other, similar industries. Many of them have flown prototypes. Is it the future? Probably not. But they are trying it now, and giving the regulatory bodies the time they need to figure things out as well.








PS Nobody said anything about flying "cars". The only thing "car" about this would be that you get in and put on a seat belt.

[kach22i]

Lots of activity in this sector.

May 2018
The self-flying M*A*S*H air ambulance takes off: Israel Defence Forces test $14m self flying UAV that could replace medevac choppers
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-5768095/The-self-flying-M-S-H-air-ambulance-takes-off.html



From the original article........................Not Flying Car, it's for urban mobility!

I'm guessing high rise to high rise, or high rise to parking structure / Park & Ride.

https://www.fidelity.com/news/article/company-news/201910101257MIDNIGHTUSEQUITY_A2008467

Boeing ( BA ) and Porsche are joining companies working to expand a market that offers the prospect of moving people and goods quickly and affordably through the air.

Hyundai last month named the head of its newly created Urban Air Mobility division and said the sector within the next 20 years is projected to grow into a market worth $1.5 trillion. Honeywell (HON) in June teamed up with automobile components supplier Denso to collaborate on electric propulsion systems for urban air mobility. Last year, Audi and Airbus, Boeing's ( BA ) rival, said they were working together on new mobility products. Airbus in S o Paulo, Brazil, had ran trials of Voom, its helicopter ride-hailing service.

Funny, is Honda going it alone?

[flipper35]

If you have a flying car that works well in an urban environment, you probably don't need the car part of it anyway.
Think of something like the Blackfly but with actual range. You won't need to drive it anywhere since it can go from parking space to parking space, in theory.

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by flipper35

If you have a flying car that works well in an urban environment, you probably don't need the car part of it anyway.

Correct.

There are a number of companies chasing this market...we have done some design work for these folks:

Homeold | HopFlyt

The web site has good information on the "why".

We also did a lot of work for a big motorcycle company in Japan that wanted to design a flying motorcycle...we proposed ducted fans. The design was great and would have worked but the legal ramifications were too daunting.

Can you imagine?

I wish I could share the design. It is very cool.

[cabmandone]

I saw a flying car at Talledega towards the end of the race.

[kach22i]

Related article shows more detail (see below). Website posted by SH has some nice models in it.

09/20/2017
HopFlyt Channels the Custer Channel Wing
HopFlyt is a modern attempt to revive the Custer Channel Wing

HopFlyt’s Vertical Extension of Custer’s Ideas

HopFlyt’s mission limits trips to under 200 miles, so high cruising speeds will not be as important as the fact that commuters will avoid the gridlock below.

“At HopFlyt, we are designing an electric Vertical Takeoff & Landing (#eVTOL) aircraft that allows you to fly over the traffic, saving you precious time, so you can be more productive. Additionally, HopFlyt is exploring ways to reduce recurring energy costs and make urban transportation fast, safe and sustainable.”

The design combines tandem wings, eight electric powerplants, and eight channels surrounding multiple-bladed propellers to provide thrust. With the wings pivoted perpendicular to the fuselage, the airplane can make vertical takeoffs.

http://hopflyt.com/aboutold/


Flying Models: Videos
http://hopflyt.com/venturiold/

[jlex]

Yes.... Guard's Red!

[Captain Ahab Jr]

Originally Posted by flipper35

If you have a flying car that works well in an urban environment, you probably don't need the car part of it anyway.
Think of something like the Blackfly but with actual range. You won't need to drive it anywhere since it can go from parking space to parking space, in theory.

Flipper you're not alone with this thought, I was interviewed by a UK company 3 yrs ago and their concept was an autonomous drone that flew around picking up and dropping off cars as needed. Declined the offer as their grasp on reality of design/manufacturing was so far away from their ambition

Fly cars like Hopflyt seems to have a bigger parked footprint than 2 cars while carrying half the people. How does that work when you want to park in a city office car park?

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by Captain Ahab Jr

Fly cars like Hopflyt seems to have a bigger parked footprint than 2 cars while carrying half the people. How does that work when you want to park in a city office car park?

Hopflyt isn't designed to be a car, rather a VTOL electric powered aircraft to fill the void of urban commuting, 60 miles or so, at far less cost than a conventional helicopter.

They are really good guys and there are definite barriers (I have discussed them in detail with the Hopflyt folks), but nothing ventured...