Flying car fun!

[rwanttaja]

I always shake my head at the idea of a flying car. What do they think the cost is going to be? The simplest, basic LSA is over $100K. Your flying car will probably be a cool half-million.

So let's do a thought experiment: I roll my quarter-million-dollar flying car out of the hangar, climb in, and fly to my destination airport 500 miles away. I land, fold the wings, deploy the geschwaninainter or whatever, and proudly drive out the airport gate. To the Motel 6 where I'm staying, where I park that flying car (worth more than a Maserati) in the open parking lot, next to the McDonalds.

And I'm going to sleep soundly that night?

Ron Wanttaja

[Floatsflyer]

So let's do a thought experiment: I roll my quarter-million-dollar flying car out of the hangar, climb in, and fly to my destination airport 500 miles away. I land, fold the wings, deploy the geschwaninainter or whatever, and proudly drive out the airport gate. To the Motel 6 where I'm staying, where I park that flying car (worth more than a Maserati) in the open parking lot, next to the McDonalds.

And I'm going to sleep soundly that night?

Ron Wanttaja

The sound of DING, DING, DING.

A slight correction to keep the fantasy real. You climb in, drive your $400K flying car out of your garage, drive to your airport, through the airport gate onto the taxiway, unfold the wings, tune in the ATIS, head to the active and fly to destination. Land and repeat in reverse. However, this time the same Motel 6(why a Motel 6? your intrepid voyageur can certainly afford better) parking lot is shared with a Walmart lot. Much, much worse scenario. He better drive his flying car to the Ritz Carlton instead and he'll sleep better. :>;

[rwanttaja]

The sound of DING, DING, DING.

A slight correction to keep the fantasy real. You climb in, drive your $400K flying car out of your garage, drive to your airport, through the airport gate onto the taxiway, unfold the wings, tune in the ATIS, head to the active and fly to destination. Land and repeat in reverse. However, this time the same Motel 6(why a Motel 6? your intrepid voyageur can certainly afford better) parking lot is shared with a Walmart lot. Much, much worse scenario. He better drive his flying car to the Ritz Carlton instead and he'll sleep better. :>;

Wouldn't able to AFFORD the Ritz Carlton after buying the flying car. :-)

I've stayed in several very nice hotels when I travel to the Dulles area. None of them had covered/secure parking. True, none of them had discount stores or fast-food places next door.

Your "DING, DING, DING" comment is right on target. Someone parking in the stall of your rental Prius and slamming their door into you just gets you into a tussle with Hertz. Someone putting a dent in the folded wing of a your $400K flying car...well, you're grounded, and probably will have a pretty big repair bill.

You wonder what the insurance premiums would be for a combination car/airplane would be....?

Ron Wanttaja

[Frank Giger]

Naw, you only fly to upscale places that have secure parking areas.

And turn your 400K flying car over to an 18 year old valet.

Much better, right?

[rwanttaja]

The whole "Flying Car" concept is an anachronism, born in the 20s, killed in the '50s by the same guy responsible for the slow decline of General Aviation: President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Set the WABAC machine to 1936. You want make a business trip to a town 400 miles away. Those 400 miles of road are narrow and two-laned, and much of it probably isn't paved. Vishnu help you if there's a tractor or "road hog" in front of you. There's no such thing as a "limited access" highway; the road travels through the middle of countless towns...most of which will have a series of stop signs (probably not traffic lights), and if there's a major cross-road, it might take you fifteen minutes to make it through the intersection. The speed limits are probably 40-50 MPH, but you'll never make that on the average. It's hot, there's no air conditioning, dust from the road is blowing in the windows.

You MIGHT Make that trip in one day, but you're going to be driving in the dark, hot, dirty, tired, and frustrated at the end of it.

But YOU...you lucky so-and-so....own a J-2 cub. Depending on the wind, you'll average 80, maybe even 100 MPH. Five or six hour trip, above the traffic, above the dust, above the intersections, above the cops. Cue the "Blue Max" opening music.

When you get there, though, you need ground transportation. Maybe that Hertz company is set up at your destination, or maybe you'll have to hope a local garage or auto store will rent you a car.

Geeze, wouldn't it be nice if the plane could be driven on the ground like a car....?

But lets skip forward a mere 20-30 years. Ike has signed the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act, which is the trigger for a huge road system. A 400-mile trip, between appropriate destinations, can now be driven at 60-70 MPH, with no time-consuming intersections and NO slowing down through towns. Sure, the roads don't connect all, or even most destinations. But, increasingly, the towns off the Interstate grid start to wither, and you don't have to travel to them as often. Local governments try to stem the tide by improving the side roads that cover the area... Maybe you can drive 300 miles on the Interstate, but if that last 100 miles might well be a broad paved road with wide shoulders.

Now, using an airplane...especially a flying car...doesn't quite make as much sense. If your destination is on the Interstate, your Plymouth gives the J-2 a real run for its money. And, of course, when you get there, you've GOT a car (hey, it's a Plymouth, but you can't have everything). No reason to have a delicate flying car for transportation. By this date, too, car rental agencies are even more common, especially in towns near the Interstate.

Sure, get a Bonanza and the speed differential returns. But then, you've not just got a dirt simple rag-and-tube airplane that costs little more than a typical car. It's not a solution everyone can afford, any more.

Now, I'm not criticizing Ike. The Interstate system was a tremendous accomplishment, and was critical to the prosperity of the United States for years to come.

It just had the effect of making General Aviation a bit less relevant. And flying cars even less so.....

Ron Wanttaja

[Bill Berson]

Flying cars should be thoroughly tested by experimenters in the "experimental" category first.
Not marketed first.

[Bob Dingley]

[QUOTE=rwanttaja;60373
But lets skip forward a mere 20-30 years. Ike has signed the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act, which is the trigger for a huge road system.

Ron Wanttaja[/QUOTE]
Remember when William Piper proposed at this time, that when the gvt was buying up land for the interstate system, some extra parcels adjoining the future interstate be bought for airstrips. When the construction equipment shows up to build the hwy, they make a 3,000 X 75 foot strip next door. Include areas for clear zones and a few acres for a future FBO. Build it and they will come.
Bob