When are we gonna have flying cars?

[Athena]

I want mine now!

PAVs

[OldTex]

They've been promising flying cars since I was small.

I mean, we already have the Dick Tracy communicators... robots are finally appearing.... They have drugs that make a guy harder than Chinese algebra.. I want my flying car!!

[Brutha]

We do have flying cars. They are called helicopters. It's however much cheaper to use a non-flying car.
We even have jetpacks.

Cars are simply the more practical solution to the problem.

[Jonathan Browne]

Flying cars require a government initiative just like the building of highways. If you subscribe to popular science you'd be aware that there are quite a few companys who have build prototype flyings cars. The real issue is licensing and cost. Some sort of computerized control would be needed because of the obvious safety risks.

[Gabo]

Government regulation is probably the biggest reason we DON'T have flying cars. In the US, the government claims all airspace above 10ft, so anyone that wishes to build a car that can fly above that level must comply with regulations similar to those of airplanes in order to not be shutdown.

So until the government cuts away some bureaucratic red tape to allow for commercial flying vehicles, us consumers will be stuck grounded.

[Revolution]

We're not. Its as simple as that.

Its impractical.

But you can look forward to more advanced means of transport - such as teleportation.

[WanderingOak]

The biggest question should be "Why do you want flying cars?"

There are plenty of reasons why personal transportation should stay on the ground:

1) Flying is a lot harder than driving or playing a flight simulator game. You have to actually know how the aircraft works in order to keep it in the air and control your flight.

2) Aircraft are fuel pigs and require a lot more maintenance than cars. If your car breaks down by the side of the road, you call a tow truck. If an aircraft breaks down in flight, you hope and pray that you can safely glide in for a landing rather than crash. When I was in the Navy, two pilots were killed when a Chinook helicopter lost an engine and crashed into the ocean. Only the loadmaster was able to get out before the helicopter sank.

3) Read you local police blotter and see how much mayhem is caused by DUIs. Now imagine the chaos that would ensue if all of those knuckleheads were flying.

I think I'll leave the flying to the professionals.

[Brutha]

2) Aircraft are fuel pigs and require a lot more maintenance than cars.

Actually we live in a time where you have small aircraft that doesn't need any fuel at all but takes all the energy it needs from the weather (those aircrafts only need other energy to start).
Cars might not need any drivers anymore in 2020 when you are willing to pay the price. At the moment the fact that car manufactors don't think that there enough demand for self driving cars holds us back in developing them.

Maybe we can create self flying one man vehicals in ten or twenty years that bring you from point A to B and are completely powered by solar and the weather.

[Neblasian]

Very impractical indeed. Each accident or malfunction will result in the vehicle crashing to the ground. Plus, the civilians on the streets will always be in harms way. Imagine walking to work and a car come falling on ur head. Which insurance agencies are crazy enough to insure these.

[Revolution]

Each accident or malfunction will result in the vehicle crashing to the ground.

lol

[Murphy]

I want them! ****ing scientists, why are they wasting time on curing diseases and stuff. I don't need any diseases curing I need a flying car. Now

[Hyperchiller]

When is everyone going to be able to levitate?

We won't need cars at all if we can fly

[missing]

Originally Posted by Hyperchiller

When is everyone going to be able to levitate?

We won't need cars at all if we can fly

I'll settle for instant teleportation. Of course were that the case travel might start to become real boring real fast. Wanna see the top of Everest? Great Wall of China? The South Pole? Just press the button. We'll see everything too fast. Each lunch break, or hell, even a bathroom break is a potentially new vacation, and think of how crowded the popular spots would be! On the other hand it might allow for exploration of some more remote sections of the planet. It could be like a game, see if you can find the coordinates where nobody else is. Of course, the system must be mechanically sound. Nothing would suck more than checking out a Congo war zone on a dare only the have the machine break down just long enough for you to be disemboweled.

screw it. Earth is too boring. What we need is not flying cars but personal SPACE vehicles, that safely go faster than light. There are nebulas and galaxies that need to be explored!

[Keith]

Given how badly people seem to drive in two dimensions, I shudder at the idea of giving them a third to play with.

[balluwho]

According to this article, flying cars may be in showrooms in just 18 months. World’s First Flying Car Set For Take-off

It also brings up an interesting point - the entire FAA protocols will need to be remade from scratch.

[Athena]

OMG WOW!!!!!!!!! HORRAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Thank you for this!!!!!!!!!

Originally Posted by balluwho

According to this article, flying cars may be in showrooms in just 18 months. World’s First Flying Car Set For Take-off

It also brings up an interesting point - the entire FAA protocols will need to be remade from scratch.

[Keith]

Originally Posted by balluwho

According to this article, flying cars may be in showrooms in just 18 months. World’s First Flying Car Set For Take-off

It also brings up an interesting point - the entire FAA protocols will need to be remade from scratch.

Judging by the graphics it would be pretty useless on the roads. Either the wheels are extended, in which case you're too wide for the average lane, or they're retracted, in which case they block off the driver's view of the road any further back than the front doors.

Doesn't seem like there's room for a rear-vision mirror there, either.

[Keith]

That, of course should've been "the wings are extended"...