Hundreds of flying taxis to be made in Ohio, home of the Wright brothers and astronaut legends
The same Ohio river valley where the Wright brothers pioneered human flight will soon manufacture cutting-edge electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft
This will never happen.
This is simply another investment hole for gullible liberals.
Yes. This will only ever be possible with gas powered engines. Paul Moller has been constantly improving his rotary engines which will be used for the Skycar once the motors are widely successful and he can source additional funding for the Skycar again. He has solved all of the typical problems with rotaries.
Here is a teaser of the engines:
From https://freedom-motors.com/freedom_tech.html
Patented intake and porting arrangement increases power by 50% verses OMC rotary engine of the same displacement.
Low cost patented approach to insulating the rotor bearing from the rotor.
Proprietary tip seals and rotor housing coating provides projected seal life of over 10,000 hours.
Intake and exhaust system tuned to achieve over 100% volumetric efficiency (using SuperTrapp® technology).
Patented composite coating has the following advantages:
Patented lubrication system eliminates either mixing oil with fuel (OMC design), or injecting oil into incoming air stream (Mazda design).
The engine will be OK but the propelling system? I cannot see anything other than tilting ducted fans which are VERY NOISY!
There is one system invented by Augusta/Westland helicopters that would fit the bill, Project Zero. https://evtol.news/news/project-zero/
I was a champion of the Moller vehicle in the 1980s and even prepared an internal argument for why Boeing should invest in it. But 40 years have come and gone, and there is not much to show for it. So, as much as I like it, I have to put it in the category of "Some Day My Prince Will Come."
As for the electric stuff, developments are going full bore over an amazing range of potential competitors, but my own view is to think of them as equivalent to a helicopter with "Tesla" on the side. I expect charging delays and the inevitable passenger crash to put a crimp in the market.
I absolutely agree that this has taken a long time, but the back story is that he was attacked by the SEC and put under a gag order. This apparently caused the stock price to tank, which meant that the investors' virtually lost their money and everything ground to a halt.
https://web.archive.org/web/20180731181458/http://mis2003.org/
https://web.archive.org/web/20180731080105/http://mis2003.org/our_story.html
But within the last couple of years, he has been able to get Freedom Motors making and selling engines and the hope is that this will eventually be able to fund the restart of development of his flying cars.
Here is a paper that Paul published advising against using batteries only:
https://moller.com/brochures/Critique-of-Battery-Powered-Flying-Cars-7-28-17.pdf
Thanks for the backstory. Life is busy, but I had always wondered what happened with him.
I haven’t looked at his work in 20 years. Amazed he is still at it.
I’d imagine this will inevitably lead to some interesting insurance claims for the people who are still driving conventional automobiles.
“I swear a Taxi landed on my car!”
🤣🤣🤣
WATCH " Above Top Secret". Not hard to find and free. AWESOME
Paragraph of note from the article:
Luckily I would imagine most of the problem with these things would be them bursting into flames on the ground at random times. I hear a lot more about Tesla fires in parked cars than moving ones.
The fires are another big thing.
When an EV runs out of juice on the road, it stops. What happens when an airborne EV's batteries die before it reaches its destination/charging station? 'Down she goes'!
Maybe they'll come with parachutes (for the passengers AND the vehicle)! 😄
I often get the impression that many of these ideas will work if there are only one or two of them but they will fail disastrously if they become widespread.
Imagine what a taxi rank would look like with flying taxis. With no roads to follow, no traffic lights or formal junctions, who decides who flies where?
When people mention flying cars I try to envisage the factory car park at 15 minutes to start time in the morning. That is an air traffic control accident waiting to happen.
And, of course, they will need to fly round all those Amazon parcels being delivered.
You get a gold star for apprehending the system problem in resorting to these vehicles. In the Jetsons, the cartoon animator performs the air traffic control, with the power of God in His Creation.
That's the making of a very quick round of drone demo derby.
I’d imagine people would find a way to make it work if they’re determined enough.
People are stubborn like that. Especially when it comes to making ideas other people think are bad and or retarded work.
The train of stupidity and marketing stunts that ultimately contributed to the widespread adoption of automobiles is a prime example of determined people making something work despite setbacks and being told it was a bad idea.
I know what you mean. I have an old encyclopedia that seems to suggest that electricity will not become widespread in people's homes because they would need too many batteries! Thinking about it, some things don't change!
Then, if I go back to the 1950s when computer core memory was $1 per bit I could never have envisaged having a quarter of a trillion dollars worth of memory at 1950s prices in my PC, either!
Nope, they won’t fly where a DEW might hit, us peons aren’t even important enough to let there planes , ect fall on.
If they are painted blue they can fly into DEW zones.
You really need to get back to looking under your bed for boogeymen. Imaginary threats don't hurt anyone.
Great, flying Teslas. Not only dropping out of the sky, but falling in flames.
Maybe they can use them to start wildfires! /s, sort of
Shhhhh!! Don't give them any ideas.
The only way this at all functions is if only a very few have access to them in a dystopia 15 minute city hellscape.
Pretty much what I was thinking. These aren't to be personal vehicles. No 'George Jetson' for the plebs.
imagine these in cities like nyc. imagine the skies full of these monstrosities like the city streets are full of cars atm. imagine them flying the way people drive. no thanks.
They are mostly anticipating them being flown by artificial intelligence... Chew on that one for a while.
What could go wrong?
Ok, I have to spit it out now! 😄
I have, ai is not to be relied on as much as you think. driverless cars here yet? no, not really. and who is going to pay when ai crashes these taxis into buildings? keep having your youthful dreams though...
Cars only have to worry about 2d, effectively. Planes will have to be 3d.
It's actually a bit worse. Cars have to worry about 3D (x and y...and time) in order to anticipate future position. Planes have to worry about 4D, accordingly. If it sounds more complex, it is.
What "I think" is that AI is not to be trusted, which I presume was hinted at in my closing sentence. It is not a "youthful dream" of mine at all.
well, then I didnt get your on your comment. was it my fault for not understanding or yours for not being clear enough? either way, seems we are of the same opinion then. have a great day, fren.
I shudder at these things. Happy landings!
Agree.
Two words. Kia Boys. They really do ruin everything.