I may be done with cars: I WANT THIS !!!

[Ace-Garageguy]

 

[Painted Black]

Can you imagine 30 or more millions of those in the sky?

[Mark]

When you walk down the street, you'll not only have to look both ways when you cross, you'll have to look UP...

[afx]

Very cool.

 

[slusher]

Looks like fun..

[cobraman]

22,000 deposit . 92,000 bucks for one 50 per cent built .  Looks like a ton of fun . Info from website

[Russell C]

Overbuilt leaf blower.  😆  I do need one, though!

[Smoke Wagon]

There’s plenty of folks who can hardly operate a normal passenger car. The last thing we need is for them to have access to their own personal deathcopters. I’d like my roof to be in one piece, after all. 

 

I’d be more impressed if scientists can figure out how to make this happen:

[BlackSheep214]

Oh yeah.... me likie....

[Ace-Garageguy]

18 hours ago, Painted Black said:

Can you imagine 30 or more millions of those in the sky?

 

18 hours ago, Mark said:

When you walk down the street, you'll not only have to look both ways when you cross, you'll have to look UP...

 

6 hours ago, Smoke Wagon said:

There’s plenty of folks who can hardly operate a normal passenger car. The last thing we need is for them to have access to their own personal deathcopters. I’d like my roof to be in one piece, after all. 

Allow me to alleviate these groundless concerns.

1) In most jurisdictions, EVTOLs aren't allowed in urban areas, period.

2) Operating one will require a pilot's license. Currently, less than zero point two percent (0.2%) of Americans (for example) are pilots... or around 600,000 out of a US population of 350 million. It's expensive and time-consuming to get licensed, and requires a medical certificate in most cases. Very few people have the desire or ability anyway. This isn't going to change any time soon.

3) With a price approaching $100,000 US, these aircraft are hardly going to become common.

4) Additionally, for that nearly 100 grand, you get a "kit" that requires assembly and FAA certification of airworthiness for the work performed by the builder. With most of today's citizens being incapable of changing a flat tire on their car (or putting Ikea shelves together right) it's extremely unlikely that building something like this will have mass appeal.

 

Edited November 26, 2021 by Ace-Garageguy
CLARITY and ACCURACY

[Painted Black]

Dang Ace, we were just thinking ahead

[Ace-Garageguy]

5 minutes ago, Painted Black said:

Dang Ace, we were just thinking ahead

I think they'll become a problem about the time NYC is permanently under water. 

Edited November 26, 2021 by Ace-Garageguy

[Mark]

So none of the lowest common denominator will ever steal these things, and none of the "more money than brains" bunch will ever go where they aren't supposed to go?

[Ace-Garageguy]

35 minutes ago, Mark said:

So none of the lowest common denominator will ever steal these things, and none of the "more money than brains" bunch will ever go where they aren't supposed to go?

Well, those are the folks who always ruin everything for the competent, responsible, and law-abiding, no matter what it is...and have since the beginning of time.

So to be on the safe side, I'd suggest anyone who's worried start by reinforcing their roofs now with steel beams and fireproof shingles.

Better yet, dig a nice hole to live in, and arrange things so it's unnecessary to ever leave the sheltering arms of Mother Earth.

There have been, by the way, small, cheap, traditional helicopters available for decades.

Golly gee darn...I think there's one crashing in my front yard as we speak. Third time this month.  

Edited November 26, 2021 by Ace-Garageguy
CLARITY and ACCURACY

[BlackSheep214]

3 hours ago, Painted Black said:

Dang Ace, we were just thinking ahead

ROFL! 

[Smoke Wagon]

You know, a key advantage of normal cars is that you can transport more than just yourself, and things you take with you. At best, the Jetson One is an expensive and impractical toy.

[Mark]

Well, automobiles were once considered "expensive and impractical toys"...

[Ace-Garageguy]

30 minutes ago, Smoke Wagon said:

You know, a key advantage of normal cars is that you can transport more than just yourself, and things you take with you. At best, the Jetson One is an expensive and impractical toy.

Interesting statement when, according to the Fed, 85% of vehicles on the road at any given time only have one occupant.

But here's some good news...you don't have to buy one.  

[Smoke Wagon]

That’s because a lot of people commute to work alone, but they still have the option of loading up the car with their family on the weekends or driving with friends. Whereas with this one seat vehicle, you lose the option of being able to bring people with you. Also, what’s the flight time on this? That’s something to take into consideration as well, especially if they want to make it electric.

[Ace-Garageguy]

27 minutes ago, Smoke Wagon said:

That’s because a lot of people commute to work alone, but they still have the option of loading up the car with their family on the weekends or driving with friends. Whereas with this one seat vehicle, you lose the option of being able to bring people with you. Also, what’s the flight time on this? That’s something to take into consideration as well, especially if they want to make it electric.

Lotsa people, me included, also have multiple vehicles for different things...like motorcycles and very small sports cars.

Far as flight-time goes, it's about 20 minutes, with a top speed of around 100 MPH. Useful for some things, not everything.

But I'm already thinking down the road about a hybrid micro-turbine-electric power system, like Jaguar used on its C-X75.

Plenty of lift and range possible for two occupants, with power for AC, etc., and turbines can run on carbon-neutral bio fuel too.

Ya gottsta admit, this little aircraft would look right at home in the garage next to this...

[Matt Bacon]

Don't get me wrong.... I _love_ the orginal CX-75 concept. But the power-train was far more clever and less Batmobile than it sounded. The microturbines (scale ups of model RC flying engines) were there as a "sustainer" where they ran constantly at the same speed, generating power into the electric propulsion system battery, while super-sophisticated disc electric motors to drive the wheels provided throttleable power and all the torque from zero revs. The real value of the turbines was massive simplification and increased reliability over a reciprocating engine. IIRC, there are only about 10 moving parts in each turbine (if you count the turbine/compressor spool as one, which it is...).  It didn't happen because the engineers couldn't figure out how to get enough air into the engine room to feed and cool the turbines for sustainable use without making the frontal drag of the car impossibly high. Realistically, the CX-75 is comparable to the BMW i8 (although slightly less practical) as a pointer to the future. The power pack is still my bet for the non-commuter sports car, where suburban charging networks are dense enough to sustain pure electric, but to get out on the open road requires something different... unless the Mr Fusion pack means where we're going we don't need roads...

best,

M.

[Tom Geiger]

"As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly." Les Nessman

They'll be falling out of the skies Bill!   

 

[Ace-Garageguy]

15 hours ago, Tom Geiger said:

...They'll be falling out of the skies Bill!   

Somewhat unlikely, what with redundancy in the propulsion system, a "fail soft" mode in the software that lands the thing gently in the event the operator releases the control stick (as in heart-attack), and a ballistic parachute that deploys in the event of catastrophic failure (ala Cirrus).

 

[Tom Geiger]

And mid air collisions between the tuner guys?!

Every weekend news show in Philly reports the previous evenings spectacular 100 mph crash with little bits of Dodge Charger and Honda visible!  Imagine letting these boys fly?

[Ace-Garageguy]

7 minutes ago, Tom Geiger said:

And mid air collisions between the tuner guys?!

Every weekend news show in Philly reports the previous evenings spectacular 100 mph crash with little bits of Dodge Charger and Honda visible!  Imagine letting these boys fly?

It's a little harder to get a pilot's license than it is for a chimp to get a license to drive a car.

But whatever.