Originally Posted by
vasic
I'm not sure if it is because of my limited aviation experience (compared to other members here), but I can't understand how has a road-able airplane "very limited utility"? Primary reason for not flying more often is, for many of us, the hassle of getting to that airport and back. This explains why there is an abundance of real estate advertising for air parks (homes with direct runway access) in aviation magazines. Even for those who have the convenience of having their aircraft very close to their home, there is that hassle of moving around once we land at destination. Conceptually, road-able aircraft (or carplane) has the ultimate utility, as it can get you anywhere and everywhere. And the only reason we don't have it today is because of conflicting regulatory requirements for road and air travel. The regulation will continue to exist (and may only become even more restricting), but if anyone can find even the minuscule area where the two sets overlap, and within that overlap build a roadable aircraft, it is Rutan. If this design does end up successfully meeting requirements for both road and air (regulatory, as well as utilitarian), it is entirely likely that it could become the more popular than C172.