#38078 - 11/27/02 01:30 AM
Flying Cars By The End Of The Decade?
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Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 562
Le4rner
UGN Supporter
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UGN Supporter

Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 562
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Well the idea that everybody will have a personal air transportation craft, that will be as easy to use as a car, seems like science fiction. On the contrary, a consortium to make this into reality already exists, with many serious participations in it. It is called Southeast SATSLab,it is funded by NASA and it has members from economic and academic areas. Recently a company that has made significant progress, entered this consortium.This company has a ready experimental prototype called "Skycar". It is a 4-seat vertical takeoff/landing craft,with rotating trusters like a Harrier.Some specs:8 rotary (Wankel) engines,top speed 350MPH,burns common gasoline,range:900Miles.It has satellite navigation,flight computers and even emergency parachutes. http://www.moller.com/news/pressrelease/satslab.html
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#38083 - 11/28/02 03:44 AM
Re: Flying Cars By The End Of The Decade?
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Posts: 574
Cold Sunn
UGN GFX Whore
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UGN GFX Whore
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us
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I am pretty sure they will use another form of fuel before it becomes common. I think that building ones that work with fuels we have now will get people interested, and make them realize it is possible. If they see a car flying, they will think, yeah, let's get in on that. Once they find a better form of fuel these things will definately "take off," pun definately intended. "In limited production (500 units per year) the M400 Skycar will sell for a price comparable to that of a four-passenger high performance helicopter or airplane, approximately $500,000. As the volume of production increases substantially, its price can approach that of a quality automobile ($60,000-$80,000)." Also, I just realized this would mean an all new kind of license, unless you would only need both a driver's and pilot's license. pulling over will be strange in the future.
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#38086 - 12/02/02 08:02 AM
Re: Flying Cars By The End Of The Decade?
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Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 860
unreal
Der Übeltäter
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Der Übeltäter

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KCRQ
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Computerized altimeters and GPS Navigation are already here. We even use both of these things in the aircraft on a daily basis (look up the Garmin GNS 430). However, GPS accident prevention is very far off. GPS systems are not accurate to within feet, they are accurate to within yards. Also, GPS systems tend to lag, since information must be received by at least three satellites, and then sent to the unit in the vehicle. This lag time is not very substantial when used in a navigational device (upwards of 3 seconds), but when it comes to accident prevention, 3 seconds may mean quite a difference.
Many high-end aircraft nowadays have a system called TCAS (Traffic Collision Avoidance System). Other aircraft are displayed on a screen relative to your aircraft, with altitude and direction information displayed as well. In the event of a traffic conflict (one aircraft coming dangerously close to another), an alarm will sound. Also, taking the Boeing 747-400 as an example, a message will appear on a screen in front of the pilots giving a recommendation on what to do to resolve the conflict. Examples of these recommendations: Climbing left turn, descending right turn, etc. Keep in mind that the aircraft will not avoid conflicting traffic by itself, however, the technology is there.
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#38088 - 12/02/02 10:22 AM
Re: Flying Cars By The End Of The Decade?
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Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 129
Drake
UGN Member
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UGN Member
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Posts: 129
Long Beach, California
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I've been around planes my whole life because my dad is a pilot, but a lot of people haven't, and they're scared of flying. You'd be suprised at how many people would rather drive then fly because they think driving is safer(which it isn't). My guess is that people wouldn't buy flying cars just because of fear of flying/heights.
The lover of inquiry must follow his beloved wherever it may lead him. -Socrates
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#38090 - 12/02/02 12:04 PM
Re: Flying Cars By The End Of The Decade?
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Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 129
Drake
UGN Member
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UGN Member
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 129
Long Beach, California
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lol. imagine the wingspan u'd need for a hanglider to support a car. that'd be great
The lover of inquiry must follow his beloved wherever it may lead him. -Socrates
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#38092 - 12/02/02 02:01 PM
Re: Flying Cars By The End Of The Decade?
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Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 129
Drake
UGN Member
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UGN Member
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Posts: 129
Long Beach, California
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oh, i thought u meant a hangglider so that you could glide the car itself to the ground if it ran out of gas.
The lover of inquiry must follow his beloved wherever it may lead him. -Socrates
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#38096 - 12/05/02 02:48 PM
Re: Flying Cars By The End Of The Decade?
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Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,273
SilentRage
DollarDNS Owner
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DollarDNS Owner

Joined: Mar 2002
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OH, USA
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Drake, you said something that I wanna comment on. You and a lot of the educated populace say that flying is safer than driving. You guy point out statistics about how there's more deaths and accidents involved in car wrecks than in plane wrecks.
However, what I say to that is, there's a heck of a lot more people driving around than flying around. So naturally there'll be more car wrecks than plane wrecks. However, that doesn't mean the RATIO is greater with cars. Cars may be considered safer cause the ratio between number of cars, and number or wrecks would be fewer, then the ratio between number of plane flights and number of plane wrecks.
In case I was confusing, here's an example:
Number of cars = 1000 Number of wrecks = 100
Number of planes = 100 Number of wrecks = 20
Now see, there's 100 car wrecks and 20 plane wrecks a year. planes are safer? no, cause you've got a 10% chance of getting in a car wreck, and 20% chance of getting in a plane wreck.
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Okay WTF?
by HenryMiring on 09/27/17 08:45 AM
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